News Source: Explorations

Sept. 12, 2007 -- At U.Va., you have only to walk as far as the Lawn to see an example of a sustainable community — Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village. As in all sustainable design, the relationship of structures to the environment was an important consideration for Jefferson. He placed his suite of buildings at the end of a long ridge with an uninterrupted view from the Rotunda to the Ragged Mountains in the south. The classrooms and living quarters are in close proximity — and the Rotunda serves as a natural gathering place. This built environment encourages the exchange of ideas between faculty members and students — a process that is essential to its long-term viability. The Lawn also incorporates the cultural ideas of the time as well as enduring values of balance and proportion. Almost 200 years after its creation, it still excites our imagination.

As School of Architecture dean Karen Van Lengen points out, “Sustainability, broadly defined, is not only based in the ecology of an area, but supports equity and embodies important cultural ideas.” As part of U.Va.’s Sustainable Communities Group, Van Lengen and her colleagues seek to create and support communities that extend the characteristics of the Academical Village for our time.

[For the complete article, please visit Explorations online - Fall 2007 issue]