Serpentine Wall at UVa, 1952

The Serpentine Walls, only one brick thick, are one of my favorite architectural features at UVa. There have been many postcards made of these distinctive walls over the years, and for some reason I'm particularly fond of this one, from 1952. (Can you imagine today's UVa students wearing coats and ties to class every day??)

Interestingly, the image of the Serpentine Wall has been appropriated by groups as diverse as the Darden Private Equity Network ("Jefferson realized that by building a wall that curves, one uses 25% fewer bricks as compared to a straight wall. The curved wall can support itself while being only one brick thick instead of two. Jefferson's ingenuity and his prudent, economical and careful use of resources correlate with the skills needed to become a successful investor in the world of private equity") and the Serpentine Society, UVa's LGBT alumni association ("Serpentine walls are not straight, and neither are we"); the wall was also recently cited by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as an analogy for the tortuous line between church and state in this country. This is clearly one multi-talented, sinusoidal, crinkle-crankle stack of bricks!