La Venta And The Memory Center Case Study

The University of Central Florida (UCF) Orlando campus shows a high level of planning. The student union is at the center of campus and is encircled by two rings that contain the main academic and administrative buildings. Housing, sports fields, and stadiums abut the periphery of the rings (“UCF,” n.d.). The campus of the University of Wisconsin at Madison (UW) sprawls along Lake Mendota and is integrated into the grid-like street system of Madison. Most of the dormitories and sports complexes are on the fringes of campus (“University,” n.d.). The University of Maryland (UMD) campus lacks the appearance of planning that is more apparent at UCF or UW and is compressed by two major roads on the east and west, forcing the campus to spread north and south. A large mall occupies the center
For example, in San Lorenzo, rituals and ceremonies were conducted in large open areas within the city, much like the Memory Mall. Both are gathering places where people from many communities come together to share common goals and beliefs. La Venta and the Memory Mall have a north to south orientation, though the structural design is inverted. The fluted pyramid and the CFE Arena represent the celestial world. The ritual of graduation that takes place at the arena can be seen as an ascent into another world and certainly the culmination and sanctification of years of study. The plaza in La Venta and the Memory Mall correlate with the terrestrial plane and are places between ascent and descent. La Venta’s sunken courtyard finds a counterpart in UCF’s Veteran’s Memorial. The courtyard was a gateway to the underworld and the memorial has an aura of sacrifice and death. The ball courts at the Olmec settlements as well as Spectrum Stadium have been socially charged spaces where memories were created and identities were formed through the participation in rituals that justify and give meaning to each society as a