University of Virginia Library

Purpose Of A Plaza

(56) Provided we join it to some sort of open plaza large
enough for a gathering of the entire town population (3000
students plus faculty and staff). I am somewhat influenced
here not by the old "convocation" tradition of universities in
bygone days but by the use of our own Lawn for mass
meetings during the week of Cambodia and Kent State in May
of 1970. Here was a period of genuine "community" in the
sense that differences in age, dress, experience, and authority
were for the time being subordinated to mutual concern on a
given issue, in a physical space at once attractive and large
enough to accommodate entertainment, business, dialogue,
and miscellaneous other activities in easy reach of each other.
Then came the basketball season of 1970-71, and we felt
another sort of community spirit under the roof of University
Hall.

(57) In short, I think you need one central space large
enough for the infrequent occasions when a community
convocation may be necessary. But you should not have that
plaza for mass meetings only. It should be a hub of permanent
activity. Mr. Jefferson long ago understood this, with his
concept of an "academical village" centered on the Lawn and
focused at the library (Rotunda). Gradually, however, the
University has been forced by growth to retreat from the
Lawn, leaving it now not much more than a soothing balm to
the eyes and a major tourist asset where visitors are safe from
the molestations of throngs. It is in no respect an actual center
for anything (not even a map of the Grounds); the University
in fact has no focus anywhere. Hence the recent but thus far
inconclusive talk about somehow redesigning the
Newcomb-Peabody-Alderman area into an integrated and
lively area for student activities.

(58) The lesson in all this is that the plaza at Birdwood,
large enough for 3000 sitting bodies (4000 for good measure),
should also be multi-purpose. It should be not only a center
and a focus but also an inevitable passageway for a great many
people on their way to a great many destinations, and a
destination itself. This is how you go about getting your
desired "mix" of students out of the realm of the theoretical
and into the actual. The notion is far from original. European
market squares, New England village greens, Indiana
courthouse squares, certain well-designed shopping centers
(not Barracks Road!)—the list is infinite, and the image evoked
by each is highly positive. Nor is it anachronistic; I would call
attention to the new campus of Simon Fraser University in
Vancouver, with its covered outdoor central plaza linking
library, theater, underground parking garage, student center,
and classroom-office complex.