Project Details

water - landscape - tectonics - exploring water through a public water/bath architecture along the rivanna river

The Jefferson Pools in Warm Springs are a very fascinating place located in the rolling mountain scene in the south west of Virginia. Landscape, water and architecture are creating a atmospheric interaction - a great low tech moment of contemplation and value: A wooden aged shelter, a filter around a natural mineral spring; the roof structure, open to the sky, is reflecting back and intertwining with the water.

on water
water is a very important natural resource with beautiful as well as powerful visual and physical qualities. water is working in systems on various scales, a continues flow generates processes. water substrates and sediments, forms, changes and creates material patina over time. the beauty of acting and reacting with light, a reflecting water surface // surface tension // the interaction between water and ground; different physical conditions of water: liquid, steam, ice and there structures. the phenomena and presents of water will be our main research interest, resource and design tool on a conceptual, programmatic as well as on a detail design, material and joint scale throughout this design studio.

site / landscape
we will be thinking, placing our architectural research/design in the space of influence of the rivanna river. starting north of the south fork reservoir, following the course of the river to the Woolen Mill, Power Plant location close to urban centre of charlottesville. the landscape we are looking at was and is formed by the flow of the water as well as by human influence //reservoir//. characteristic tectonics elevations/sections of landscape and water developed through the interaction between water and the structure //geology// of the ground.
understanding the river as a very important piece of natural infrastructure for charlottesville and the albermale area, today and thought history we want to connect to the river and plug into the system in different ways. the parameters influencing the river landscape will be important for our interventions in the same way.

program
what does water mean to us in our everyday life, our culture of interacting with and using water maps its value to us. drinking / cleaning / bathing / swimming - experiencing water - is it a private or public act? how is this connected to our society? how did the interaction with water change through history and in different cultures, what kind of architecture typologies did it form. develop a //new// water/bath architecture typology addressing the value of water. how could the experiencing of water serve as a recreational and educational act at the same time.