For my masters level graduate studio at K-State, I chose to take the Net + Studio. It was an intriguing aspect for me as it focused on the notion of rural housing in Kansas and how to analyze and approach the situation from an architectural standpoint.

Going into the Net+ Studio in the fall of 2020, I was already acutely aware of the workforce housing crisis that much of rural America is experiencing. I had previously worked in economic development and had dedicated months to studying the exact scenario in north central Kansas. I came out of that internship inspired to help find a solution, not one that would just look good on paper, but one that could be implemented in real-time. I was an architecture student looking at a housing situation, why couldn’t it be solved?

Fast forward roughly one and half years, the opportunity to see my thoughts play out was on the table. It was finally possible, after 5 years of schooling and two internships to see the process from project research to project construction play out in its entirety. I have heard it said before, “If the rural housing issue was easy, everybody would be solving it.” To a degree, my work with this studio proved this statement to be true. The process was not easy, in fact, it was a lot of hard work. First, understanding the data, not just finding it, but analyzing it to understand what it was saying. Then, from a design aspect, how can those needs be met with a tangible solution.

So, in a holistic sense, the rural housing crisis is a conglomeration of both aspects – analysis and design. A solution won’t and cannot succeed without a strong understanding of both. Its impossible to go into a rural community and present research and expect a workable solution to appear, as it is equally impossible to design a feasible solution without understanding the notion of a rural architecture.