Thomas Jefferson's 19th century layout of the University of Virginia was profiled by Marie Frank, an architectural historian, during a lecture in Bond Hall Wednesday.

"It's considered a masterpiece of American architecture," said Frank.

A graduate of Notre Dame, Frank discussed that education was extremely important to Jefferson and motivated him to build an academic community that was practical for students.

The University of Virginia's "academical village," was designed by Jefferson in the early 1820s. The school opened in 1825 with close to 100 students. Various features included the rotunda, pavilions, the Lawn and other structures that were "necessary to make the academical village run as an academic community, which is what we typically don't look at in terms of architecture," Frank said.

The buildings that Frank examined more closely were the hotels, a type of dining hall in the academic village of the University of Virginia.

Jefferson preferred that students ate in smaller dining areas as opposed to what Frank said Jefferson called a "common den of noise and filth."

The hotels were relatively self-sufficient and allowed the University of Virginia to be its own secluded academic community made of individual residences and dining areas. As a result, students had little interaction with the surrounding town of Charlottesville.

As more students arrived at the University of Virginia, the need for additional buildings increased and Jefferson's original plan had to be modified, but Jefferson was very concerned about the placement of new buildings. After his death, many new buildings were constructed and older ones were changed. The hotels were replaced by the large cafeterias that Jefferson opposed.

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