"Redneck Taliesin"

Boing Boing points to Fred Bernstein's great Christmas day article on the Rural Studio's recent work. This article is in the travel section, so for anyone planning to visit the small Alabama projects there are excelent suggestions on where to stay, what to see, and where to eat. The last paragraph is a touching tribute to the work Sambo and his students have done, and continue to achieve. [Also, reader Mark Eckenwiler pointed to very interesting links to the National Building Museum in the comments of the post] From the NYT article...

[...] It's an open secret that Mr. Mockbee liked to work in Hale County because there was no building code enforcement - allowing the students to experiment with unconventional materials and forms.

A number of the houses are in Mason's Bend, a hamlet near Sawyerville occupied by four extended families. At the center of the enclave is a community chapel, its towering glass wall made of surplus Chevrolet Caprice windshields. When I was there, one of the windshields had shattered and others were in need of washing. But the power of the building - rising skyward with ambitions that belie its low budget - shone through. [...]