MARY BETH BARR
Urban Design Build Studio & AR HOME LAB
SAY IT LOUD - Arkansas Exhibitor
Arkansas Based Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
The potential impact to quality of life for both individuals and their communities.
MARY BETH BARR
Bio:
Urban Design Build Studio (UDBS) founded by FJS Architecture Chair John Folan is a collaborative of students, professors, and allied professionals who work with community residents on implementation of appropriate, affordable, and replicable design solutions. The AR Home Lab develops culturally sensitive and regionally specific housing prototypes in Arkansas. Mary Beth Barr is a recent alum of FJS and a current UDBS Fellow.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
Architecture was a potential career path for me because I had an affinity for art, creativity, math, and logic. Designing for people's everyday lives, thinking about how the built environment can make their lives better became a passion.
What do you do?
The UDBS and AR Home Lab researches, designs, and implements appropriate, regionally specific affordable housing prototypes for replication at scale.
What excites you in the work you do? Who or what inspires you professionally?
Collaboration in communities and building on local assets to increase capacity and impact.
Who or what inspires you professionally? What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
The potential impact to quality of life for both individuals and their communities.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
I am most proud to work as a teacher in a school that offers the opportunity for young designers to engage in initiatives that have real impact in the built environment with potential to affect quality of life in local communities.
Featured Project Name:
A Just Home for the Arkansas Timberlands
Featured Project Location:
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Featured Project Completion Date:
Winter 2022/2023
Role in Featured Project:
Research, Design, Collaboration
Featured Project Description:
A Just Home for the Arkansas Timberlands is a regionally specific affordable housing prototype developed with collaborative partners and a broad collection of qualitative and quantitative data from the Timberlands region of Southwest Arkansas. The design is predicated on local market costs for construction and regional median incomes, and is sensitive to local vernacular and construction materials. The first prototype is scheduled for construction in the Fall of 2022 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
