South Lawn Project
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This is a bold extension of The Lawn, the hallowed centerpiece of the University of Virginia, which was designed by Thomas Jefferson.
Envisioned by the trustees of the University as a way to vastly increase the amount of classroom and office space for professors on the central grounds, the $160 million South Lawn Project would demolish one of the school's largest existing academic buildings, New Cabell Hall, and replace it with a grassy terrace over a busy road leading to a new ensemble of structures.
Criticism has arisen over the allegedly derivative architectural nature of the project. Not only does it ape certain aspects of The Lawn, but it also would utilize a traditional red brick appearance that critics allege that the always-innovating Jefferson-- were he alive today-- would have dumped as new technologies arose.
