University of Virginia Library

Basic Principles Once Again

(42) The basics once again: We have the "problem" of some
2000 to 3000 students and faculty in search of something
different from the present UVa experience. We have another
"problem" of a piece of land that is presently somewhat
inconvenient for instant access to the Grounds and therefore
likely either to frustrate residents or send them to the nearest
set of wheels. To fuse the two "problems": How do we
encourage a sense of community and identity at Birdwood, so
that people will resist the urge to run, drive, or bike to the
Grounds and thereby become caught up in the way of life they
have just fled?

(43) The response: Try to abandon the notion of
"problem" and see instead the creative opportunity we are
presented with. On a tract of land that is already marvelously
varied we have the chance to bring together a couple of
thousand varied and gifted people in a complex of buildings
that can itself be varied and exciting. We can, in short, proceed
toward inexhaustibility, so that at Birdwood there is sufficient
stimulation, activity, human variety, and incentive for
interaction to make easier the resistance to Papa Jefferson and
Mama Newc.

(44) How do you achieve inexhaustibility in the overall
design of the buildings, the landscaping, the roads? Begin by
keeping in mind the theme of difference which has already
been introduced. Every student and faculty person coming to
Birdwood will presumably already know the Grounds—the red
brick, the white trim, the rectilinear patterning (effectively
broken by serpentines), the neoclassic effects, the uniformity
of classrooms and furnishings, the spacious scale (with visual
focus only, rather than actual focus as planned by Mr.
Jefferson), the virtual absence of unplanned spaces indoors or
out (our predecessors had a pasture where Homer sits).

(45) Provide contrasts, therefore, whenever possible. Use
concrete, wood, steel, glass; asymmetry, cantilevering,
skylights, roof walks; carpet, terrazzo, stucco, wall surfaces
suitable for would-be artists; lakes, slopes, fields, groves;
kiosks, vegetable gardens, benches. Design student rooms in
squares, rectangles, and Ls for one, two, three, and four
occupants. Adopt some sort of modular construction, for
economy, but then exploit all the variations you can.
Especially try to create irregular and interesting facades (for an
infinite play of light and shadow), and plan some of the
buildings such that people may walk through them without
entering (such as the new Boston City Hall). Leave numerous
and diverse parts of the tract untouched entirely, so that the
amount of discovery for a new resident is maximum. At the
same time, build for density in the habitable part of the tract
in order to induce frequent human contact.