This conceptual project for a counter-proposal to the Lumkin's Slave Jail Museum is set in Richmond, Virginia, on a site where hundreds of thousands of slaves passed through. The project aimed to use the historical site as a spot to recognize the suffering and then achievements of the enslaved people and their descendants. The project was heavily focused on the narrative of the design, as much as the design itself. The façade draws precedent from historical west African structures while the rusticated based recalls the horizontal logs that dominated the façade of the jailhouse. The site is designed to mitigate noise from the surrounding highway and train tracks as much as possible. After entering the lobby—a double height space with vaulting reminiscent of the hull of a boat (connecting to the water voyages the enslaved people were forced on)—one proceeds through a series of exposed ruins before moving upstairs to the main body of the museum. The procession through the museum culminates on a large, open-air terrace with fountains, serving as a place for reflection and affording views across the city. Several spaces for community engagement were moved into an existing historical building on the west half of the site.
