One of Thomas Jefferson's proudest accomplishments was the establishment of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, near Monticello.   His plan was basically symmetrical, with the central axis being a rectangular Lawn, flanked by two rows of low student rooms punctuated by larger buildings for classrooms and professors' dwellings, and capped by a rotunda at one end with an opening to the mountains at the other.   This polarity of culture and nature was profoundly changed in 1898 with the construction of a building at the end of the Lawn, for it changed Mr. Jefferson's metaphor from one of guidance to the outer world to one of containment.

photo by Steve (Rui) Gong, stevegongphoto.com