Prospect.1 New Orleans

We are absolutely running behind on this. Haven’t even made it down there for a glimpse. Prospect.1 New Orleans claims to be the largest international contemporary art biennial ever organized in the US.  Like all good art biennials, venues are located throughout the city. Word is, building some of those yawning exhibition halls wasn’t in the budget and the result is a series of about 25 intimate settings. The exhibit is open Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 am-6 pm, until Sunday, January 18th.  Complimentary shuttle service leaves from the W Hotel (333 Poydras, map) every 30 minutes or so. This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Be on the lookout as Cabinet of Seeds reports.

THE SKINNY:
Prospect.1 homepage
Artists
Venues
Maps (We recommend the “Official Navigation Map.” It lists artists by venue, satellite venues, other city art spaces, and shuttle schedule.)
Registration
New York Times review

If you get the art coma, we recommend reviving at El Gato Negro, 81 French Market Place, 504.525.9752, just behind the US Mint, a Prospect.1 venue.

Prospect.1 Welcome Center @ Hefler Warehouse, 851 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA, map, 504.715.3968

Rural Studio

‘Hale County Animal Shelter’ (Alabama) by Rural Studio, 2006
(courtesy Timothy Hursley)

Auburn University’s Rural Studio is one of 16 projects representing the United States at the Venice Biennale’s 11th International Architecture Exhibition. The exhibition, titled Into the Open: Positioning Practice, explores the relationship between architecture and community.

Rural Studio is a highly acclaimed design/build program for Auburn architecture students. The program’s intention is to provide the rural poor with homes and community facilities that “aspire to the same set of architectural ideals and virtues as projects with substantial budgets and prosperous clientele.” Samuel Mockbee, the program’s legendary founder, is quoted as saying ““Everybody wants the same thing, rich or poor … not only a warm, dry room, but a shelter for the soul”. The best thing is that the students use local imagery for inspiration and local materials in construction. They also live in the community while they work on the project.

Beautiful, innovative, socially responsible planning and design combined with lessons on professionalism, volunteerism, and individual responsibility….right on, right on.

Rural Studio will also have an exhibit at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona this October. In March, Rural Studio won the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture from La Cite de l’architecture et du patrimoine.

RECAP
Rural Studio here: www.cadc.auburn.edu/soa/rural%2Dstudio/
Mockbee here: www.cadc.auburn.edu/soa/rural%2Dstudio/mockbee.htm
Venice Biennale here: www.labiennale.org/en/
US exhibit here: positioningpractice.us/