Observatory Hill Dining Hall Addition, University of Virginia

Robert A. M. Stern
1984




The north side

As a post-modern architect, Stern designs works that relate to their context. Here four pavilion-like units are added to the north and south ends (the south isn't shown) of an earlier dining hall; each unit has a peaked roof and small cupola. Although the Lawn, designed by Jefferson, is more than a mile away, Stern alludes to this "academic village" with its classical pavilions.
 
"Detailing is a mixture: the columns and entablature are relatively straightforward, inspired by Jefferson's use of the Tuscan order, though the exact source is Willliam R. Ware's The American Vignola" (Brownell 430).
 
Stern's addition was joined to an earlier Modernist dining hall designed and built in the 1970s by William and Tazewall. The center image shows the earlier structure; it is on the left in the left and right photographs.

 
Like the balustrades at the Lawn and Monticello (both soon to be added to this site), Chinese Chippendale decorative screens are used. On this side (the north) a brick podium supports the addition whereas a one-story loggia supports the south end, which has a lower grade level.



Work Cited: Charles E. Brownell et al. The Making of Virginia Architecture. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1992.

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