The built environment in the region is a result of inordinate labor, hard labor made harder yet by a harsh landscape and deprivation and the incredible exploitation of the labor force by concerns sited far off in other places. The project’s definition of the “built environment” is wide and inclusive, and includes the notion of who has and has not had a hand in shaping it. The intellectual framework of the project is like a scaffolding - it’s a temporary structure aimed at supporting engagement and expansion, with the goal of making sense of how it is when we are in this landscape.

The Appalachian chain stretches from Alabama to Canada and at that scale any sort of cohesive overview of its built environment is beyond the scope of this project. But the southern portion of the range has a range of shared qualities that have contributed to a built environment that might be worth a comprehensive study. Landforms, climate, flora, fauna and the cultural contexts of the people who have lived here share important commonalities.

This project is not interested in being dogmatic in its territorial boundaries; many of the issues influencing the built environment in the southern Appalachians are, in fact, global in nature. But as a general framework the Project on Southern Appalachian Architecture will focus on the mountain counties in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.