Welcome to the Archives of The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture. The purpose of this online collection is to function as a tool for scholars, students, architects, preservationists, journalists and other interested parties. The archive consists of photographs, slides, articles and publications from Rudolph’s lifetime; physical drawings and models; personal photos and memorabilia; and contemporary photographs and articles.

Some of the materials are in the public domain, some are offered under Creative Commons, and some are owned by others, including the Paul Rudolph Estate. Please speak with a representative of The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture before using any drawings or photos in the Archives. In all cases, the researcher shall determine how to appropriately publish or otherwise distribute the materials found in this collection, while maintaining appropriate protection of the applicable intellectual property rights.

In his will, Paul Rudolph gave his Architectural Archives (including drawings, plans, renderings, blueprints, models and other materials prepared in connection with his professional practice of architecture) to the Library of Congress Trust Fund following his death in 1997. A Stipulation of Settlement, signed on June 6, 2001 between the Paul Rudolph Estate and the Library of Congress Trust Fund, resulted in the transfer of those items to the Library of Congress among the Architectural Archives, that the Library of Congress determined suitable for its collections. The intellectual property rights of items transferred to the Library of Congress are in the public domain. The usage of the Paul M. Rudolph Archive at the Library of Congress and any intellectual property rights are governed by the Library of Congress Rights and Permissions.

However, the Library of Congress has not received the entirety of the Paul Rudolph architectural works, and therefore ownership and intellectual property rights of any materials that were not selected by the Library of Congress may not be in the public domain and may belong to the Paul Rudolph Estate.

LOCATION
Address: 1205 China Street
City: Vicksburg
State: Mississippi
Zip Code: 39183
Nation: United States

STATUS
Type: Housing
Status: Built, Altered

TECHNICAL DATA
Date(s): 1968
Site Area: 30,237.5 ft² (2,809.2 m²)
Floor Area:
Height:
Floors (Above Ground): 2
Building Cost:

PROFESSIONAL TEAM
Client: Magnolia Homes Manufacturing Corp.
Architect: Paul Rudolph
Associate Architect:
Landscape:
Structural:
MEP:
QS/PM:

SUPPLIERS
Contractor:
Subcontractor(s):

Housing for Magnolia Homes

This project scope consists of 28 housing units with a upper and lower section. Each of these units are to be prefabricated.
The project is sponsored by the Frederick Yeamans Dabney Family Foundation, a private foundation in Gulf Breeze, FL, founded in 1952.
The contractor and client is the Magnolia Homes Manufacturing Corporation, which is the second largest manufacturer of modular buildings in the United States
The project is designed to house low-income families with the rent being $115/month for a four-room apartment.
The project uses a new construction system called “piggyback” housing, by mass-producing the units in a factory and transporting them to the site where they are stacked one on top of the other by huge cranes.
A large slum area in Vicksburg, Mississippi is cleared away to build the Fredella Village Apartments.
Fifty-six modules creating 28 housing units are manufactured in 1967 at the Vicksburg plant of the Magnolia Home Manufacturing Corporation.
The project is erected onsite in eight days during December 1967.
In 1967 the United States Department Housing and Urban Design, Housing and Home Finance Agency released the “HUD 3rd annual report” which describes the construction and materials of the Fredella housing project:
“In Vicksburg Miss., a new construction system called “piggyback” housing, using production methods of the mobile home industry, made possible the manufacture of 28 living units in 17 days and their erection in 8 days. The units are mass-produced, trucked to the site, and stacked one on top of the other by large cranes. The Vicksburg project, known as Fredella Village, is sponsored by the nonprofit Frederick Y. Dabney Foundation. It consists of 28 low-income townhouses that were produced at a cost saving of 15 percent below standard construction, with further savings anticipated as the system is perfected. … The project occupies a one-acre in-city site and replaces a number of shacks. While demolition and site clearance were underway, the housing units were manufactured, in two sections each, at the Vicksburg plant of the Magnolia Homes Manufacturing Corp. The units have a cedar plywood exterior and a specially developed interior wall finish of the U.S. Gypsum Company. The lower level contains a living room and kitchen-dinette. The top half includes two bedrooms and bath. Storage space is provided on both levels, along with electric appliances and heating, range, oven, refrigerator and water heater.”
The project is featured in the article “Building Block Houses” in the October 18, 1968 issue of Life Magazine
In 2007 a re-survey done by the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation remarks that plastic siding was put on the building within the past few years.