Who has a right to own space downtown, and who has a right to benefit from it? In short, what constitutes a democratic space? Charlottesville’s identity is inscribed within its public fora; the monuments, parks, and assembly spaces that people inhabit carry conflicting ideologies of who belongs and who does not.
Situated at the entrance to the city from the east and on the public transit line, people first encounter the site visually by car or public transit, then experientially on foot by way of the Mall. The site spans 400 feet of Market Street between City Hall, Sprint Pavilion, and SNL Financial Center, and a service road cuts behind the site. South-facing, the site receives direct sunlight year-round.
The public forum project calls for a landscape of pavilions combining the typologies of auditorium, urban garden and coworking space. A field of cylindrical volumes scaled according to the demands of program and the human body supports the daily functionalities of users and creates a microcosm of Charlottesville. The skins of these pavilions are highly permeable- accessed via sliding doors or wholly transparent. It forces meaningful interactions between groups that are content to remain homogenous, or who are prevented from interacting with the community at large.
To foster communication between these tree trunks, three structural terraces create level planes for interpersonal exchange. Where the terraces are rooftops, people can enjoy the sun and scenic views; where they are ceilings, people can enjoy their shade. Puncturing the terraces are clerestory benches to allow in light and provide dynamic seating conditions, glass light boxes for greenhouses, and trees to create vertical visual connections.
