Wynn Earl

THE PROJECT

Our task for this design studio was to choose a site anywhere on the plantation and design a Center for the Study of Southern Culture. The building was to house an archive, a cafe, lecture halls, offices, reading rooms, galleries, and a reception hall.

THE SITE

Middelton Inn and Plantation ca. 1741 is located eight miles from Charleston, SC on the Ashley River. Historically the site was used for growing and processing rice. Today the site contains an inn designed by W.G. Clark, as well as many preserved historical buildings and the oldest formal garden in the United States.

THE DESIGN

Though historically the plantation was intimately connected with the river, that connection seems much less prevalent today. From this observation, I chose to place my building in the river and incorporate the idea of a pier, open above and intimately protected below. The building is anchored by a seventy foot smoke stack, reminiscent of those used for rice processing, that is occupiable on three levels. The building offers visitors intimate connection with the water and the ability to look back on the entire plantation from the end of a pier as a way of reflecting on the sites scale and rich history.