Alabama students built a home from 72,000 used carpet tiles in 2002
In 2002, students from Auburn University's Rural Studio constructed a home in Alabama using 72,000 recycled carpet tiles. The project provided a sustainable, low-cost housing solution for a local family while serving as a practical learning experience for architecture students.
Why it matters
It highlights innovative, sustainable architectural practices and the impact of service-learning programs on community infrastructure.
A house in Alabama contains walls adorned with 72,000 individual stacked tiles held in compression by a heavy wooden-ring beam. Belonging to the Harris family, the abode contains a bedroom above and a tornado shelter below. The minds behind the idea trace back to Rural Studio, an off-campus design-build program, rooted in Hale County and part of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture of Auburn University, according to the studio's website.Known as the Lucy Carpet House, it was constructed in 2002 by a team of six students developing a concept assigned by the studio co-founder Sambo Mockbee. The project was a charity house for Lucy and Anderson Harris and their children. It was funded by Interface Carpet. The company donated $30,000, as well as 72,000 pounds of post-consumer carpet tiles.
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