page_title: The Lawn
section_title: The South Lawn Project
hierarchical_section_title: The Lawn / The South Lawn Project
caption_attribution_description: English: Pavilion IX - University of Virginia Lawn
context_page_description: The Lawn, a part of Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village, is a large, terraced grassy court at the historic center of Jefferson's academic community at the University of Virginia. The Lawn and its surrounding buildings, designed by Jefferson, demonstrate Jefferson's mastery of Palladian and Neoclassical architecture, and the site has been recognized as an architectural masterpiece in itself. The Lawn has been designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark District, and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the original buildings of the University of Virginia and Monticello, Jefferson's nearby residence; this designation is due to the site's architectural and cultural significance.
  Jefferson originally designed the Lawn to be the center of the university, and as such it is surrounded by housing for students and faculty. Its most famous building is the Rotunda, which sits at the north end of the site, opposite Old Cabell Hall. Framing the other two sides of the Lawn are ten Pavilions, where faculty reside in the upper two floors and teach on the first, as well as 54 Lawn rooms, where carefully selected undergraduates reside in their final year.
context_section_description: In recent years, the Lawn changed considerably as a consequence of the South Lawn Project. The McIntire School of Commerce moved to a newly renovated 
  Rouss Hall, formerly home of the College's Economics department. Monroe Hall (former home of the McIntire School) became part of the College. As part of the project, New Cabell Hall was renovated (though it was originally planned for demolition), and the Lawn was extended via a bridge over Jefferson Park Avenue to the space across and "above" the street – where before there was a faculty parking lot. The overall project added over 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²) of classroom and office space.
  Originally awarded to modernist New York architecture firm Polshek Partnership, the current architects, Moore Ruble Yudell, chose a neoclassicist approach for the project. Criticism arose over the allegedly derivative architectural nature of the project. It aped certain aspects of The Lawn, leading UVA professor Jason Johnson to call it a "theme park".
  This tension, common on college campuses around America and elsewhere, illustrated the broader conundrum of how to expand an architectural icon, taking advantage of modern building techniques and related cost advantages, without being obviously derivative in style. Other critics take the point of view that the neoclassicist approach is more appropriate in the context of the University of Virginia, contrasting the plans to other UVA projects like the modernist Hereford College and the revivalist Darden School. There has been open feuding over the neoclassical architectural approach ultimately chosen, with both sides writing letters or taking out ad space in the university's student newspaper, The Cavalier Daily.
  UVA had the South Lawn Project LEED certified. The South Lawn Project was completed in the fall of 2010.
caption: Pavilion IX on the south West Lawn
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