What is The Vortex?

1. A mass of wind or water that spins quickly and pulls things into its center.
2. [usually singular] written. a situation that has a powerful effect on people’s lives and that influences their behavior, even if they do not want it to.

This is the fifth edition of The Vortex, an ambitious experiment in an all-school design workshop involving the University of Virginia School of Architecture through its four departments: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Environmental Planning, and Architectural History. The Vortex is a much-anticipated annual event, unique among American schools of design.

The 2016 Vortex brings together the University and the Charlottesville community to explore timely design issues that are both place and topic specific. As a collaborative and interdisciplinary activity, nearly 300 students from the second year undergraduate to the graduate level are involved in thirty interdisciplinary teams. Public officials and community leaders inform and participate in reviewing the work of the teams as part of the process. Alumni and local design practitioners also share their experience with critiques of student work and participate in the public presentations and critiques. The Vortex has two goals: to engage students and faculty in the experience of working together in a design team to change and improve the physical environment without disciplinary boundaries; and to engage with the place where we live while developing a critical approach that refuses to accept the “status quo” of ideas and spaces that may have other potentials.

For more information on the 2016 Vortex, check out the full workshop packet: 160116_VORTEX 2016-URBAN IN BETWEEN

Why Preston Avenue?

​Preston Avenue and the surrounding residential areas have a rich residential and industrial history.  The juxtaposition of homes with old factories and current industries create what could be a rich mixed-use area where the residents can live their whole life: social, economic, public and private. However, transportation planning has separated major parts of the neighborhood, keeping families, citizens, and industries apart.  This year’s Vortex will explore the potential in this area, and work to bring back the exciting, full community that once existed here.

Visit http://www.vortex2016.com/about.html for a full recap of the 2016 Vortex project on Preston Ave.