Our 2021 Erwin-Ramsey Fellow was interested in space, people, and power. Gabriel Andrade came to the Fellowship already with experience in helping everyday people become more engaged and empowered in the shared spaces we occupy everyday.
Naturally, the Fellowship needed to culminate in an experience rather than a presentation. Guests, students, and BRW staff participated in a walking tour throughout the Mall to practice intervening and shaping the space around us.
Our 2020 Erwin-Ramsey Fellow, Taha Suhrawardy, concludes his program with a capstone presentation. Building on the work that brwarchitects does with public housing residents in Charlottesville, Taha explored the critical role that food security plays in resident-led redevelopment.
Brwarchitects’ renovation of one of the oldest buildings on Charlottesville’s Historic Downtown Mall has become an attractive feature for locals and tourists alike. At the very beginning of this project, the exterior paint was stripped which revealed an attractive patina on the brick wall. In fact, this exterior paint was the main cause of the building’s extensive water damage throughout the years, and removing it created an immediate improvement in water infiltration.
In addition to rehabilitating the historic brick exterior, brwarchitects opened new windows in the existing 3rd Street masonry wall and removed the outdated wood façade and replaced it with a new glass and steel assembly. This contemporary intervention complements the building’s historic presence, while the addition of new oversize windows opens the interiors to the public mall.
The decline of big box stores and suburban shopping centers has left urban planners and developers with the dilemma of how to repurpose these large-footprint buildings. Not all attempts are successful: some conversions to town attractions or greenhouses lacked sustainability. The most successful examples of reuse have been in the public interest: community centers, libraries, churches, and medical plazas.
On Route 29 North, the former Riverside Center retail shopping center is currently under redevelopment, lead by developer Norm Brinkman with brwarchitects acting as design firm for the complex’s Building 1.