The design of Monticello was heavily influenced by the English Palladian revival of the eighteenth century. Thomas Jefferson’s architectural works preceded the neo-classical movement which would codify American monumental and government buildings. In order to re-imagine alternatives to this American democratic architecture, we will return to eighteenth-century European architecture and search for the iconoclastic works of architects that were reinventing the systems, orders, and models of classical architecture during that time. Taking their inspiration, we will develop an anachronistic design process that inherits historical forms of political form-making, but redirect them towards contemporary values of architectural complexity that foreground spatial equity, diversity, and inclusion.
The project began with a study of Roentgen Furniture, where we diagrammed the mechanisms and functions to understand the changes in massing during transformation. Once the internal programs were revealed, we recognized that the concepts, functions, and appearances might need to be adjusted. We then applied these ideas to the design of the artist residency of Monticello.
Similar to the transformation of Roentgen Furniture, the inner programs were revealed only after the exterior façade was removed. Prior to that, the identity of the object was left undefined until the lid was removed.
The project aims to conceal the secret inner world and artworks behind a Neo-classical façade. The private threshold for the artist generates programs that expand beyond the original Neoclassical box, waiting to be unveiled by visitors.
After transformation, as the American democratic society, there is order within the chaos. Although programs are pushed and oriented in various directions, the proportion and orientation remain consistent. The spaces are classified into private, public, and thresholds, with programs within each category parallel to one another.
The project was initially situated on the opposite side of Monticello, to follow Jefferson’s initial idea of Monticello's site plan and enhance the concept of a private garden in front of Monticello. However, the current location provides a sense of incompleteness of Monticello, which emphasizes the idea that Monticello is always in renovation and never completed.
Now, the project is situated at the intersection of Monticello's original site plan and provides two-way access to the project. In addition, a new connection is placed between the project and Mulberry Row to reduce the social separation formed by Monticello.
After walking through the Gallery space, an outdoor farming space is placed at the center of the building similar to Palladio architecture, which is against one of the key issues in Monticello that the farming area is completely pushed away to create a sense of social separation. By bringing the farming space back into the project, the space acts not only based on its function but is also a culturally communal exhibition for sharing experiences. At the same time, private programs orient and rotate to provide public gathering spaces for visitors to reduce the separation between the artist and the rest of the community.
The artist, Lauren Halsey, is an artist that is interested in empowering her culture and community, and her identity is based on uplifting her neighborhood. Similar to her artwork, secret communities are revealed within the white, plain, materials. Behind the giant neoclassical façade, visitors reveal her works and experience the secret union community. The presentation of Lauren Halsey’s work under the Neoclassical façade also represents the idea of community and sociality and how people reveal it from the outside versus how they experience it inside.
Within the building, windows, and columns are off-scale. Visitors could physically experience the power caused by the giant ornamentations, to further relate the contrast between Monticello like, neoclassical experience, versus the other world, created by the artist's works projected onto the walls.
