Detail View: Archivision Base to Module 13: Academical Village

Collection: 
Archivision Base to Module 13
Preferred Title: 
Academical Village
Image View: 
View of the northwest corner of the west colonnade, showing Rotunda and Pavilions I, III, and V
Creator: 
Thomas Jefferson (American architect, 1743-1826)
Location: 
site: University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia, United States)
Date: 
1817-1826 (creation)
Cultural Context: 
American
Style Period: 
Neoclassical; Palladian
Work Type 1: 
portico
Work Type 2: 
classroom
Work Type 3: 
university
Classification: 
architecture
Material: 
brick; wood
Technique: 
construction (assembling)
Relation Work: 
part of University of Virginia
Subjects: 
architectural exteriors; colonnade
Description: 
As early as 1805 Jefferson had realized that a new university was needed in central Virginia, conceiving it as 'an academical village' rather than a single large building. He proposed a long lawn or green, with five pavilions on both sides, each representing a different discipline, with a lecture-room and professor's apartments. The idea may be based on the château of Marly, Louis XIV's favourite retreat near Versailles, a building Jefferson had visited while in France. He consulted William Thornton and Latrobe, welcoming Latrobe's suggestion for a rotunda as the focal-point and Thornton's idea of pavilions at the corner of the lawn to express the change of direction. The cornerstone of the University was laid in 1817, when Jefferson was already 74 years old. He not only designed and supervised the construction but also raised money to keep the work advancing, successfully defending the idea of separate pavilions against the legislature's wish for a single building. Each pavilion had an architectural order de
Collection: 
Archivision Base Collection
Identifier: 
1A1-JT-UV-2-B3
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.