[From UVa News Services; by Jane Ford, Senior News Officer]

Karen Van Lengen welcomed Saturday's autumn rain, even as it forced the dedication of the two new additions to the University of Virginia's School of Architecture indoors.

In her remarks, the dean told the high-spirited crowd of faculty, students, alumni, administrators and friends, "The rain is beautiful today. It is a quiet rain and a resource for replenishing the earth.

"That is what we are doing here with these additions. They provide a replenishment of the school that will give us a life and new life in the future."

The additions — photographs of which were projected on the front wall of the auditorium — were designed by faculty members William Sherman, associate dean for academic affairs, and W.G. Clark, Edmund Schureman Campbell Professor of Architecture and an alumnus of the school, in collaboration with SMBW Architects in Richmond. Alumnus and professor emeritus Warren Byrd created the landscape designs.

The new wings add 12,000 square feet, accommodating the school's growth since Campbell Hall was built in 1970. Each design also makes a statement about what architecture and architecture education mean.

Clark designed the Victor and Sono Elmaleh East Wing, which houses three rooms to hold review sessions of students' designs, as a transparent expression of the dialogue between student and teacher that is the hallmark of the school's education process. Through the use of both clear and thermally efficient white glass on three sides of the addition, he makes visible the process of what goes on inside.

Sherman's addition includes 26 faculty offices that promote interaction among the school's disciplines — architecture, landscape architecture, architectural history and planning — and between faculty and students. His design also includes examples of sustainable principles, a focus throughout the school's curriculum.

Byrd's designs for the gardens are also teaching tools, providing examples of materials, design principles and ways to use the landscape to achieve sustainable goals such as curbing erosion while purifying water runoff before it heads downstream.

[for complete article, follow link to UVa News]