The Work of Genius
Rural Studio: Samuel Mockbee and an Architecture of Decency, by Andrea Oppenheimer Dean and Timothy Hursley. (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002). Much has been written about the work of Samuel (Sambo) Mockbee, FAIA, since he was awarded a MacArthur genius grant in 2000. This new offering is the most definitive analysis yet of Mockbee's contributions—through the Rural Studio—to rural, dirt-poor Hale County, Ala.

Mockbee cofounded the Rural Studio with fellow Auburn University Professor D.K. Ruth almost a decade ago as an experimental course. It has become successful beyond all expectation, and Andrea Dean's aesthetically attuned and technically insightful prose sets out a thoroughly readable narrative describing its history through 13 projects that its second- and fifth-year Auburn architecture students have created. She brings across the ingenuity and hard work underlying these houses and community gathering places, drawing her account directly from the students, faculty, and clients. As an extra bonus, there is a section on Mockbee's own artwork included at the back.

Blended masterfully with the text are the photographs. Timothy Hursley works his well-known magic as he captures the buildings under construction, in use, and within their (sometimes decidedly threadbare) context. You may have read about Mason's Bend Community Center, with its exterior wall of overlapping car windshields shielding the entranceway from the areas 60 inches of annual rain. With this book, you feel as if you have experienced it.

The one disturbing thing about reading this book is that we know what the author did not when writing it. Although referred to throughout in the present tense and speaking of future plans for the Rural Studio's work, Mockbee died just after this book went to press. Just so you'll know: The work goes on of providing, as Mockbee put it, "a warm, dry house with a spirit to it" to those most in need. Ruth continues to direct the work of the Rural Studio students and faculty despite their sudden and staggering loss.

You can order Rural Studio from the AIA Bookstore, ($27 AIA members/$30 retail, plus $6 shipping per order): phone 800-242-3837 option #4; fax 202-626-7519; or send an email.
—DG

Architect as Action Hero
Dead Woman's Voice, by Laurence Hutner, AIA (AmErica House, 2001)
Writing those specs getting a tad mundane? Sketching schematics for that renovation seem a little ho-hum? Conversing with contractors leave you stifling a yawn? Well, then, escape with Hector Garcia, architect-wunderkind extraordinaire, who has his hands full as he battles devious plots to blow up him and the woman he loves, outsmarting savage competitors who destroy his multimillion dollar practice in Los Angeles, and dealing with what has to be the baddest contractor on the planet (not to mention his potential father-in-law).

Hector is the brainchild of Laurence M. Hutner, AIA, who, following a recent move from Los Angeles to central Virginia, traded in retirement for a new career in fiction writing. Hector's profession is absolutely central to Dead Woman's Voice, and knowledge of that profession is sure to help the reader gain insight into the psyches of the characters, good and bad. Without giving too much of the twist-and-turn plot away, suffice it to say that the ultimate weapon in this personalized fight of good against evil turns out to be—what else?—a building.

You can order Dead Woman's Voice in large-format paperback from AmErica House, www.PublishAmerica.com for $21.95 plus shipping; or from Amazon.com.
—SS

A Very Moving Portrayal of Architecture
Mobile Homes by Famous Architects, by Steve Schaecher, AIA (Pomegranate Press, 2002). The architect who brought you Outhouses by Famous Architects two years ago now gifts you with mobile homes done up in the same fashion—and if you liked the first, you'll love the second. Steve Schaecher is up to his old tricks, making us laugh by combining his cartooning skills with some wacky essays about starchitects plying their formidable talents and philosophies to mobile home design.

It all starts with the Mobilisk, created by the Egyptians circa 3200 B.C.: "To properly accommodate their royalty, Egyptians became the first society to develop the mobile home or Mobilisk. These dwellings resembled the Egyptians; monuments to their gods, but they were equipped with all the ancient-day conveniences: a harem, a grape holder, and plenty of locust repellent." Schaecher skips through history, presenting 29 examples of moving architecture, including Salisbury Cathed-roll, Motor Dame du Haut, and ending with the Guggenheim Cruise-Seum, which bears a strong resemblance to a building in Bilbao we all know and love.

You can order Mobile Homes by Famous Architects from the AIA Bookstore, (16.15 AIA members/$17.95 retail, plus $6 shipping per order): phone 800-242-3837 option #4; fax 202-626-7519; or send an email.
—SS

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.