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Menokin Ghost Structure
Menokin Ghost Structure
Warsaw, VA, United States
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Menokin Ghost Structure
Warsaw, VA, United States
The Ghost Structure is an outdoor classroom structure on the grounds of the Menokin Foundation in rural Virginia. Menokin is a former tidewater plantation and the site of the house ruin of the Francis Lightfoot Lee, one Virginia's signers of the Declaration of Independence. The site is in the Northern Neck Region of Virginia which has been called the "Athens of the New World" and an early colonial settlement on the Chesapeake Bay.
The simple frame structure serves multiple functions; it is as an outdoor classroom for the foundation's educational programs, a physical demonstration of 18th century timber framing techniques and details distinct to the region, and a memorial to the enslaved workers that built the structure and worked on the plantation. The Ghost Structure sits directly over the footprint of a late 18th Century slave dwelling that it recreates. The structure's size of 15x25 is based on the archaeological record and the proportions and framing details are based on examples of vernacular structures that still survive in this isolated region. The timber frame structure was built by a crew of professionals, students, and volunteers in five day workshop held in May of 2018.
The framing is exposed for viewing and the structure is wrapped in a translucent membrane to provide diffuse shade and cover for the classroom functions. Solar powered lighting provides night lighting to the remote site and gives the structural an ethereal presence in the evening. The soft paper lantern effect of the interior lights on the membrane highlights the frame tectonics and serves as a haunting reminder of the plantations history and forgotten occupants. The structure is both demonstrative and provocative to encourage visitors to consider the structure's fabrication methods, it enslaved makers, and the complicated history of America's colonial and agricultural past.
Reid Freeman Architect
The simple frame structure serves multiple functions; it is as an outdoor classroom for the foundation's educational programs, a physical demonstration of 18th century timber framing techniques and details distinct to the region, and a memorial to the enslaved workers that built the structure and worked on the plantation. The Ghost Structure sits directly over the footprint of a late 18th Century slave dwelling that it recreates. The structure's size of 15x25 is based on the archaeological record and the proportions and framing details are based on examples of vernacular structures that still survive in this isolated region. The timber frame structure was built by a crew of professionals, students, and volunteers in five day workshop held in May of 2018.
The framing is exposed for viewing and the structure is wrapped in a translucent membrane to provide diffuse shade and cover for the classroom functions. Solar powered lighting provides night lighting to the remote site and gives the structural an ethereal presence in the evening. The soft paper lantern effect of the interior lights on the membrane highlights the frame tectonics and serves as a haunting reminder of the plantations history and forgotten occupants. The structure is both demonstrative and provocative to encourage visitors to consider the structure's fabrication methods, it enslaved makers, and the complicated history of America's colonial and agricultural past.
Reid Freeman Architect
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