Magazine Examines History of Darden’s North Grounds Home

In its summer issue, Virginia magazine examines a new book about the history of the University of Virginia’s North Grounds, which was created in the mid-1970s to accommodate the growing Darden School of Business and School of Law. The move away from Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village into modernist structures brought UVA’s unique tension over “evolving while staying the same” into focus. Darden later moved to a completely new home on North Grounds in the 1990s, which intentionally incorporated more elements of Jefferson’s Central Grounds design.

In his new book, The Law School at the University of Virginia: Architectural Expansion in the Realm of Thomas Jefferson, Philip Herrington (Grad ’07, ’12) examines what he calls “the push-pull between old and new” of the University’s history. He devotes half his book—which chronicles the migration of the Law School from the Rotunda to its current home—to the era when the Law, Darden and JAG schools all staked their futures on a move away from Central Grounds.

The magazine quotes Dean Emeritus Bob Bruner about the impact of Darden being located on North Grounds, and how those impacts have evolved over the years.

For more than three decades, Darden has been Robert Bruner’s home at UVA, from his faculty appointment in 1982 to his service as dean from 2005 to 2015. “Distance from the Rotunda presaged social distance within the University,” he says. “It made it more challenging to engage with other divisions, but as the University grows, the sense of separateness dissipates. … We engage with other schools, offer joint seminars and share research activities, but it takes a little extra effort for us to go to them and for them to come to us.”

Read the full story here.