Third Year Lab Field Trip

On Friday, August 29th, students in Assistant Professor Gonzalo Muñoz-Vera's third-year lab visited the New River Valley Train Observatory in Radford, VA. Designed and built in 2019 by Virginia Tech School of Architecture graduate students and Profs. Edward Becker and Kay F. Edge, this platform provides a public space from which to contemplate the surrounding area as well as to enhance the Mary Draper Ingles Cultural Heritage Park, of which it forms part. The group was fortunate enough to tour the observatory along with Professor Emerita Kay F. Edge, who kindly explained the design and construction process. The observatory provided a great example for students to design their 'Framing Folie, their first project of the semester. During our visit, the group also toured the Glencoe Mansion Museum, adjacent to the Park and Observatory, where they were welcomed by its Director, Scott Gardner.