Alabama NewsCenter — Auburn University’s Rural Studio wins prestigious national design award for work in Alabama’s Black Belt

By Neal Reid
Auburn University

Auburn University’s Rural Studio, an off-campus design-build program, has been selected to receive the prestigious Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in the Architecture and Interior Design category.

This marks the first time an academic program has won a Cooper Hewitt award in that category. The program — part of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture — gives students a hands-on educational experience while assisting an under-resourced population in west Alabama’s Black Belt region. Its core mission is the “education of our students, coupled with research on sustainable, healthful rural living through both housing and the vital systems we foster to ensure our communities thrive.”

The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum’s National Design Awards program honors innovation and impact and recognizes the power of design to change the world. Launched in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council, the awards feature nine categories and seek to increase national awareness of the impact of design through education initiatives.

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