Activist Architect to Lecture at the University

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Bryan Bell

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —Architect Bryan Bell has spent 14 years bringing good design to ordinary folks, notably migrant workers who tend crops across the United States. Next week, he’ll share his passion for democratic design with students at the University of Arkansas School of Architecture. In addition to meeting with students and faculty, he will present a public lecture, “Designing for the 98% Without Architects,” at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 11, in Vol Walker Hall, room 103.

“Our students want to make a difference, as evidenced by the design/build project they’ve taken on for Seven Hills Homeless Center,” said Gregory Herman, co-chair of the department of architecture. “This is a wonderful opportunity for them to learn from someone who has dedicated his professional life to bringing the dignity of good design to everybody,”

Bell began working with nonprofit agencies that serve very low-income clients soon after earning architecture degrees at Princeton and Yale. He first worked with Sam Mockbee at Auburn’s Rural Studio, designing three houses for rural families in Mississippi. The project received a Progressive Architecture Award in 1986.

In 1991 Bell founded a nonprofit agency, Design Corps, dedicated to providing “the benefits of architecture to those traditionally unserved by the profession.”  The Raleigh, N.C.-based organization, best known for its work with migrant farm workers, has developed an innovative participatory design process. Bell tailors temporary housing to client’s needs by asking questions such as “what is housing like in your country of origin?” Using federal and private funds, grants and inexpensive design tools such as sunlight, he has developed low-cost housing that has won praise from migrant workers, farmers, and the architectural community.

In addition to his work with Design Corps, Bell has continued to work with Auburn’s Rural Studio, leading 12 design/build projects including the Greensboro Children’s Center and the Mason’s Bend Community Center. He also has held a chaired position in “Activist Practice” at the University of Chicago and led a design/build studio at North Carolina State University. His efforts to share his approach with architecture students led to a series of university conferences that culminated in the book “Good Deeds, Good Design,” published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2003.