ORIS
Prvič smo se z delom Rural Studia seznanili na arhitekturnem bienalu v Sao Paulu v Braziliji leta 2005. Pogumna ameriška izbira nacionalnega predstavnika, med svetovno uveljavljenimi arhitekturnimi praksami, nam je odvzela dih. Verjamete, da v današnjem času družbeno angažirani arhitekturi uspe prodreti v arhitekturni mainstream?

JASON COOMES
Mislim, da si to želi. Obstajajo številni arhitekti, ki v resnici govorijo o naših najvišjih težnjah, o tistem, kar bi radi naredili ali kar bi lahko naredili, toda vsakdo mora zaslužiti denar za preživetje. Edinstvenost Rural Studia je dejstvo, da je bil njegov ustanovitelj, Sambo Mockbee, nekdo, ki se je zares angažiral in tvegal za tisto, v kar je verjel. In to se je izplačalo; njegova romantična ideja je očitno osvojila srca in domišljijo ljudi ne samo v Ameriki, temveč povsod po svetu. Da, mislim, da zares zajema najvišje ideale arhitekture v Ameriki; vsaj na način, na katerega se prakticira na jugu, odkoder prihajam.

ORIS
Samuel Mockbee je bil karizmatičen posameznik in vodja, svojevrsten arhitekturni "odpadnik", ki je utelesil in zaznamoval obstoj Rural Studia v začetnih letih.

JASON COOMES
Zaradi številnih razlogov Rural Studio obstaja preprosto zato, ker je bil Sambo človek, ki se je znal pogovarjati ne samo z arhitekti, temveč tudi z navadnimi ljudmi, navadnimi prebivalci okrožja Hale v Alabami, in ki jih je znal na neki način tudi povezati. Odraščal je na jugu, zelo dobro je poznal tako belo kot črno prebivalstvo. Njegov vzdevek je bil Sambo, kar je tipični derogacijski vzdevek, ki ga imajo črni otroci na jugu. Klicali so ga Sambo Mockbee in vzdevek mu bil zelo všeč. Bil je sproščen z vsakim človekom, ki ga je srečal. Pravzaprav bi lahko rekel, da Sambo v resnici nikoli ni srečal tujca. Razorožil vas je v nekaj trenutkih. Ko sem prvič obiskal Rural Studio, me je odpeljal v majhno lokalno restavracijo. Med jedjo je nenadoma vzel kos ocvrtega piščanca in me vprašal: "Boš poskusil?" Pred mano je sedel velik debel človek, ki me je poskušal nahraniti. Nikakršnih zadržkov ni imel. Mislim, da je Sambo doumel, da želijo študentje oditi v svet, da bi nekaj naredili. Arhitekti želijo, da bi njihovo delo nekaj pomenilo. Ta želja je skupna vsem ne glede na to, ali smo arhitekti ali ne. Na začetku je bilo njegovo delo majhno, subverzivno in proti pravilom. To, kar je na koncu pomembno za Rural Studio, pa je dejstvo, da se mu ni bilo treba niti zgoditi. Univerze ne cenijo tak.nih stvari. Zaradi številnih razlogov že sam obstoj Rural Studia pomeni vrsto odpadništva. Kadarkoli nas lahko aretirajo, ampak to je tisto, zaradi česar je na neki način izjemen.
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ORIS
The first time we came across the work of the Rural Studio was at the Săo Paul Biennial of Architecture in Brazil in 2005. The boldness of the American choice of national representative, among the world’s well established architectural practices, left us speechless. Do you believe that today’s socially aware architecture is breaking through mainstream thinking?

JASON COOMES
I think that it wants to. The thing is that you get a lot of architects who really speak deeply to the highest aspirations of what they would do or what they could do, but everyone has to make a living. The unique thing about the Rural Studio is that Sambo Mockbee, its founder, was someone who actually put himself out there, took the chance to stand up for what he believed in. And it has paid off; the romantic idea has obviously captured the hearts and imaginations of people, not just in America but also across the world. Yes, I think that it does capture the highest aspirations of architecture in America; at least in the way it is practiced in the South, where I’m from.

ORIS
Samuel Mockbee was a charismatic individual and leader, a kind of architectural ‘outlaw’ who personalized and marked Rural Studio’s existence in the beginning years.

JASON COOMES
In many ways the Rural Studio exists simply because Sambo was the kind of guy who could not talk just to architects but could talk to regular folks, regular citizens in Hale County and bring those groups together in a way. He grew up in the South and he was very familiar with both the white and the black populations. His nickname was ‘Sambo’, which is typically a derogatory nickname given to black children in the South. He was called Sambo Mockbee and he felt very comfortable with it. He was at ease with anyone he met. In fact, I would say that Sambo never really met a stranger. He would disarm you in a few moments. When I first visited the Rural Studio with Sambo, we went to a small local restaurant. We were sitting, eating, and all of a sudden he took this fried chicken and said, ‘Here, you wanna try it?’ Here was this big, fat man trying to feed me. He had no inhibitions about those kinds of things. I think he realized this was something that was right, he knew that the kids and students want to go out and do something. There’s a desire among architects to have their work count for something. This is something all of us have in common, whether we’re architects or not. I think he was able to put those things together. Initially, it was actually very small, subversive and against the rules. The thing at the end of the day about the Rural Studio was that it was not supposed to happen. The universities are not happy about things like that. In many ways the very existence of the Rural Studio is kind of an outlaw. Any day we might be arrested, but that’s what makes it beautiful in a sense as well.
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