On this week's episode of Archinect Sessions, Ken, Donna, and I share our conversation with Rusty Long, an architect based in Cary, North Carolina. Rusty’s private practice focuses on sustainability and community engagement with a style that bridges modernism and the history of the the American South.
Rusty’s day job, however, is a State Architect for the USDA Rural Development office. As a federal employee, Rusty is one of approximately 800,000 individuals currently furloughed by the Government Shutdown. On this 34th day of the historic shutdown, as he and many others remain unpaid after two pay cycles, Rusty sits down with us to share his story. We talk about how and why he entered public service, the work he typically undertakes as a state architect, and the problems that this shutdown are causing for him, his colleague and the US taxpayers in general.
Listen to episode 134 of Archinect Sessions, “A Conversation Rusty Long, State Architect, Furloughed by the Government Shutdown”.
Shownotes:
Work from Rusty's private practice:
2 Comments
Great dive into practice alternatives and the things that impact them- along with the importance of understanding who you *really* design for.
so interesting to think about how gov works on things no bank will — like rural rehabs, etc. very similar to the values of architecture itself, which aren’t reflected in capitalism’s short term profit schemes, but relate to the long term health of the community — if only there were better ways to measure and promote these values
Maybe if there were easy to see transparent tools, the public could be more aware of who rehabbed what buildings and how the agencies weren’t costing the taxpayers anything (counter to the pop conception of bureaucracies). Think architecture is the key to solving so many issues, it’s no wonder internet gets no coverage anymore in pop media
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