Reinterpreting THE Pollock's Branch Watershed
Pollock's Branch is a forgotten tributary of Moore's Creek - piped for most of its reach from historic downtown Charlottesville across the railroad tracks that is home to several public housing communities and the IX Factory Art Park. Through the joint methods of dance and landscape architecture, the project elicits the engagement and participation of community members in a collective process designed to identify and celebrate the unique features and places valued by the local community, reimagine the area's future use and character as the City continues to change over time and create a place-based experience of the watershed to share with the larger Charlottesville community.
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Pollock's Branch Creek watershed that runs south of Garrett Street downtown to Moore's Creek and from Avon Street to Ridge Street.
Take Part Workshop, Charlottesville, VA, 1973. The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift of Lawrence Halprin.
"Drawing details of the landscape," Clark Elementary Afterschool Workshop with Warren Craghead. Charlottesville, VA, April 2016.
Merce Cunningham on "Dance Deck" designed by Lawrence Halprin and Arch Lauterer for Anna Halpin. Kentfield, CA, 1957. The Architecture Archives. University of Pennsylvania by gift of Lawrence Halprin.
"Exploring Old Ridge Street," Mary Williams Senior Center workshop. Charlottesville, VA, April 2016.
"Ritual Group Drawing," Sea Ranch, CA. Experiments in Environment. July 8, 1968. The Architectural Archive. University of Pennsylvania by gift of Lawrence Halprin.
"Market Street Walk," San Francisco, CA, July 8, 1966. Experiments in Environment workshop. The Architecture Archives. University of Pennsylvania by gift of Lawrence Halprin.
Lawrence and Anna Halprin, Courtesy of Anna Halprin
Reinterpreting Pollock's Branch Project Development Process
Reinterpreting the Pollock’s Branch Watershed envisioned a model of urban, movement-based exploration and storytelling—rooted in Lawrence Halprin’s participatory design process—that could augment the top-down engagement efforts by public agencies and external design consultants. The project methods drew on community-based workshops to explore the psychology and politics of space and reveal the experiential qualities and invisible boundaries embedded within the urban landscape south of the Downtown Mall. These workshops offered alternative ways to “see” the Pollock’s Branch watershed landscape. Through embodied forms of analysis—including movement within the landscape and sensorial experiences—the project investigated the complexities of the area as it is lived and felt with the potential to inform future analysis and urban design initiatives undertaken by property owners, the community, and the City of Charlottesville.
During the first phase of the project, a series of movement workshops engaged community organizations, covering a range of demographics and relationships within the project area. As an intentional strategy, the project team sought out partner organizations with existing programming and involvement within the project area. Through four phases—tuning, noticing, conversing, sharing—participants were encouraged to use the body as the primary investigator to collect their personal experiential shifts throughout the landscape. Ultimately, the project’s interdisciplinary process was to re-envision and reinvigorate landscape architect Lawrence Halprin's Take Part participatory design process deployed in Charlottesville in 1973-74.
The cultural landscape of the Pollock’s Branch watershed was analyzed by the project team to support the creation of the Digital Atlas documenting the interpretation of the project area. The project team undertook fieldwork; collection and review of existing conditions and historic period mapping; and investigated the physical and intrinsic qualities of the project area. The Team investigated and explored manipulated topography and hydrology, the relationship of urban renewal and landscape transformation, evolving land uses, the physical and social and political factors shaping community identify, the role of names in defining place, and how landscapes, including mysterious places, support play and imagination.
Most importantly, preliminary mapping investigations were refined and transformed by the responses of workshop participants. This was a circular and iterative process with participant responses informing and transforming the cultural landscape analysis. To maps within our digital atlas, see link below.
This project was funded in part by a UVA Faculty Research Grant for the Arts and through funding made available from the UVA Center for Cultural Landscapes, the Department of Drama, and the School of Architecture. Technical geospatial support was provided by the UVA Scholars’ Lab.
Co-Investigators:
Robert M. McGinnis PLA FASLA
Distinguished Fellow, Center for Cultural Landscapes
Lecturer, Department of Landscape Architecture
Kathryn Schetlick
Affiliated Faculty Member, Center for Cultural Landscapes
Lecturer, Department of Drama – Dance Program
Project Team Members:
Amy Dalrymple
Research Assistant, Department of Drama – Dance Program
College of Arts and Sciences 2018, Dance minor
Vivien Fergusson
Research Assistant, Department of Drama – Dance Program
College of Arts and Sciences 2018, Dance minor
Scott Getz
Research Assistant, Center for Cultural Landscapes
Master of Landscape Architecture Candidate 2017
Chris Gist
GIS Specialist, UVA Scholars’ Lab
University of Virginia Library
Caroline Griffith
Program Director, Center for Cultural Landscapes
University of Virginia School of Architecture
Matthew Scarnaty
Research Assistant, Center for Cultural Landscapes
Master of Architecture Candidate 2017
Master of Landscape Architecture Candidate 2016
Braelyn Schenk
Research Assistant, Department of Drama – Dance Program
College of Arts and Sciences 2018, Dance minor