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Uplift: Building as Path

Proposal for a new UVA Student Center   |   Spring 2020    |   critic: Professor Karen Van Lengen, FAIA


The Dell is comprised of two non-spaces: the leftover “backyard” of Physics, Education, and “Old Dorms” buildings above, and the underutilized grass field below. Constructing a building from two bars, one soaring upward toward the sky and the other gesturing toward the ground, Uplift takes these non-spaces and turns them into fields for contemplation, interfacing with nature, and building community.



Vignettes capture the site's vision to create a building-as-path



Dividing the site into a striated AB grid system of alternating 60ft and 20ft modules organizes the areas around the site into spaces





The building negotiates the hillside by enclosing ramps and terraces, creating an accessible path to enrich both zones




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