As the streakers give way to the studious, the rising sun reveals another day in Jefferson's Academical Village, but this Spring something seems off. Something big. At the East foot of the Lawn, Pavilion X and its adjacent lawn rooms have received their long awaited facelift, adding a massive parapet atop the pavilion and returning the columns to their original color scheme, a 'warm stone cover,' standing in bold contrast with the bright white of the rest of the Lawn and the University. But this was, as Wahoos love to say, 'what Jefferson originally intended.'
With research and design by Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects and Mark Kutney, University conservator, the project hearkens back to the 1825 layout and ushers in the first of many upcoming changes on the Lawn fueled by the Jefferson Restoration Endowment Funds. Along with the reintroduction of the parapet and classical colors, the large Doric and small Tuscan columns sport stone capitals and bases, a tan color of wooden trim and lighter green shudders adorn the student rooms, and wood decking has been constructed to create terraces from the colonnade at the front of the rooms to their back walls.
While the University community takes pride in its connection with tradition, this redesign, a blatant disruption of the relatively long-standing modern perception of the Lawn, throws into question the primacy of antiquity. "It doesn't fit. It's not the Lawn," says Lawn resident Conor Wallis Grady. Second year student and Charlottesville native Sylvia Kates echoes that sentiment, stating, "It doesn't look like what I think of as Charlottesville, UVA, Jeffersonian. It's kind of jarring." Historical authenticity seems to be in question. Of course, others, like third year Andrew Fish, believe that the redesign, "accentuates the beauty of the Lawn." Architecture student Sara Harper points out the academic benefits as well, saying, "It's an interesting time on the Lawn with the different stages of architecture represented. As a student it's beneficial, even if it isn't the most aesthetically pleasing."
Artistic preferences aside, Kadeem Cooper, Lawn resident of the newly-updated room 50, understandably states, "After a much delayed construction process, I'm just happy to see it's done"
For more information on the entire research report behind the redesign, visit: http://www.virginia.edu/architectoffice/historicpreservation.html
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