Photograph by Frank Di Piazza
Rocio Romero is Perryville, Mo.’s most famous architect, noted for her LV prefabricated Modernist homes (all designed, manufactured and shipped from rural Missouri). UM–St. Louis’ Gallery 210 celebrates her achievements through December 6 with Rocio Romero: LV Series, featuring models, wall sections, photos, and drawings of her work.
Q: The LV homes have huge fenestrations. They must make you feel really connected to the rest of
the world.
A: I tried to bring the outdoors inside and frame nature like a work of art.
Q: On your website you mention the possibility of grouping a bunch of LV units to make a compound.
A: A lot of people combine the units to make a larger home. You can use them like Lego blocks.
Q: Can you stack them?
A: We’re coming out with a two-story model in 2009.
Q: Did you ever imagine you’d be designing and building prefab homes as a career?
A: I’m very detail-oriented, and I’ve always been interested in construction. Once I was given the opportunity to build a house in Chile, a light bulb went on—I could make a prefabricated home that could evolve. And then it all went by instinct.
Q: And now you host a monthly open house in your home, right?
A: Typically 200 to 300 people come to that from all over the country. We let them see, feel and touch the space and wander around.
Q: You live in an LV home in Perryville. How did your neighbors react when you built it?
A: Some loved it ... and others thought it was totally strange.
Gallery 210, UM–St. Louis, 44 East Drive, 314-516-5976, gallery210.umsl.edu
Related: Read AT HOME's profile of Rocio.
