Inspiration from Sam Mockbee and The Rural Studio

          Sam Mockbee was an American architect and founded the Rural Studio along with architect D.K. Ruth. The Rural studio is an architecture studio at Auburn University an their goal is to teach students and others outside of the school about the social responsibilities architecture has. Moreover, the truly astounding thing that they do is also build homes for poor people and communities in Alabama. The houses that are built are also constructed by students of the studio, from 18 to 24 years of age and so far they have built more than 80 houses. I found this to be quite inspiring and quite angelic to use your own knowledge and skills to help the less fortunate live much more comfortably.

          The Rural Studio and the spirit of Sam Mockbee live on as they continue to work on projects and build  more inspirational houses for poorer communities. With some similar goals as they aim for, I have thought up of another way to connect social communication and responsibilities with a community.

          Santa Ana, a city in Calirfornia is known to be one of the most densely populated areas in America. It is said that some areas of it are even a bit sketchy. I believe that one factor of some less liked areas such as this is because they no public spaces like parks. It does not help an area if there is just dirt and no greenery scattered correctly. With just dirt, fences, and half heartedly done construction, the scenery is probably as you would imagine it to be like in a movie; dark and dreary. Santa Ana does have a few parks scattered about, but they are all relatively small. Since it is so large and populated, most people, specifically children are not even in walking distance of a park.

Map of the largely populated Santa Ana, Ca. divided into 7 sections.

          Gerardo Mouet, a park director states that there is not enough money to open and build more parks for the public, which is quite unfortunate considering that Santa Ana was seen to have the lowest amount of public space for residents. This is where a group, such as the Rural Studio for example, could come quite in handy. When I think of parks, I think of many children running around, playing, meeting friends, and simply enjoying being a kid. I also see parents relaxing and possibly chatting and making friends too. That, is missing from Santa Ana and they should not be deprived of that brightness in life and youth. 

          A team of architectures could get together to make use of some forgotten patches of land. Sketching and creating parks and playgrounds are the things that can unify this community. Benches, water fountains, sandboxes, swing sets, monkey bars are just a few things that will help to brighten and bring life into an area. 

          Hopefully this dreary park and playground starved city will get some more attention soon. Santa Ana in California is so large that it is split up into multiple sections. Although there are some parks and playgrounds registered, some are definitely not even up to par. Regardless, there are not enough and more should be built so that dirt patches and unused land is put to good use and so that the local people of the community can be brought together.

          A big problem is the money required for this kind of project, but like the Rural Studio, if anyone donates a little, it will all add together. This type of concern, in my opinion, could definitely raise some money with some type of fundraiser. Once there is enough money collected even for one small playground, a team like the Rural studio architects can hopefully band together near Santa Ana to create, build, unify, and inspire.