ANNUAL VIRGINIA PRIZE ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION 

February 2023 (Trajan Baker - 4th year M. Arch Candidate)

The AIA Virginia Prize is a design charrette that engages students at all of the accredited architecture programs in Virginia.  Conducted simultaneously at each institution, students are given the competition program Friday at 5 p.m. They work over the weekend to create a board presenting their design solution by 9 a.m. the following Monday.  The competition is intended to promote collaboration between the profession, students and professors in Virginia.

WORKSHOP-HOUSE FOR TWO ARTISTS

Following Alvar Aalto's words, you are asked to design a house for two artists that will include their workshop and a public program in the form of an exhibition space and an educational space. This program asks you to reflect on the relationship between art and architecture in your design.

SITE

The workshop–house for two artists will be situated along the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA. Designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin in 1970s, the Mall is one of the longest and most successful outdoor pedestrian streets in the US. Paved with brick and shading by mature trees, it is the cultural center of Charlottesville with shops, cafés, restaurants, offices, theaters, museums, and art galleries that reflect the city’s historical importance and its continued vibrancy. The Mall is located on Main Street and runs from 6th St. NE to Old Preston Avenue, where it extends to Water Street, for a total length of eight blocks.

MY DESIGN PROPOSAL

Kinetic entry and exit doors that allow the house to open for public circulation when the artists would like to exhibit their works. Attention to public vs private zoning opportunities. Opportunity to display works in progress or works for sale in the street facing windows. Sliding presentation panels and flexible furniture within space to adapt to programmatic needs. 

“We should concentrate our work not only to a separated housing problem, but housing involved in our daily work and all the other functions of the city.”


Alvar Aalto (1898-1976)

PROJECT RESOURCES

Read the complete brief.

Download the supplementary materials.

Using Format