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The Lawn At The University Of Virginia And Ix Art Park

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Influences of planning theorists are evident in The Lawn at the University of Virginia and IX Art Park in downtown Charlottesville by examining the sites’ designs, activities, and users.
Thomas Jefferson designed a university to promote higher education which he called his Academic Village, and the Lawn was the center of his design. He wanted to create a university where everybody could not only learn and study, but also live together. Therefore, he designed pavilions which served as houses and classrooms for teachers and rooms for students that were all connected to each other. Furthermore, everybody had a view towards a green space called the Lawn. Jefferson’s interest in architecture influenced his design for the Academic Village. The layout of the Village with the central lawn was inspired by French hospital planning and the surrounding structures were inspired by Roman architecture. Jefferson aimed to create a place that was practical, healthy, and educational. Construction began in 1817, and the university opened in March 1825 with Jefferson’s selected faculty and 123 students. Jefferson’s Academic Village expanded after his death into a larger campus, now known as the University of Virginia. Students and faculty continue to live in rooms around the Lawn and classes are still taught in the pavilions.
Brian Wimer, a local filmmaker, proposed the idea of transforming an industrial site of a closed Frank Ix and Sons factory into a “communal cultural space for art,

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