Thomas Jefferson's Five Pavilions

Form provides the framework through which we experience architecture, and is fundamental in the communication of a building’s purpose. In designing the University of Virginia’s Rotunda and academical village, Thomas Jefferson understood the importance of form, and effectively created a community of living and learning through his careful applications of balance, scale, and order. Jefferson’s academical village consists of two parallel rows of five “pavilions,” interconnected by colonnaded walkways. The two rows of pavilions face each other, separated by a wide, terraced lawn. At the uppermost point of the lawn is the Rotunda, the central focus of the academical village, which Jefferson modeled after Palladio’s Pantheon in Rome. Within the academical village alone, there is a significant presence of balance. While no two pavilions are perfectly identical, the ten pavilions are relatively similar in structure, and Jefferson’s placement of five pavilions on each side of the lawn balances out the landscape. Moreover, the pavilions housed both

Palladio’s works are a large focus, and it is argued that Palladio’s “harmonious” ratios were ultimately proportional as a result of the columns he used. For Jefferson’s academical village, however, this is not entirely the case. Palladio’s villas – and the Pantheon, which the Rotunda was modeled after – were singular structures. The Rotunda is a structure which is part of a larger community, and Jefferson employs proportion with extreme care. The Rotunda is roughly one-half the scale of the Pantheon, and was modified in design to blend in with surrounding pavilions. While it certainly stands out from the rest of the academical village, both in size and elevation, the Rotunda is the dominant focus for a reason; knowledge is powerful, and its size showcases this