Title:
Grand Ellipse Aerial
Creator/Contributor:
Jamieson, Doug E., Illustrator
Date:
circa March 2009
Historical Note
This hand painted rendering depicts the Grand Ellipse, a ceremonial gathering space envisioned to form the heart and identity
of UC Merced East Campus at full development. It was part of an eight piece set developed to capture the design and planning
intentions embodied in UC Merced’s 2009 Long Range Development Plan.
Countering the orthogonal orientation of the major circulation elements on the campus, the 11-acre Grand Ellipse acts as a
central green in the heart of the academic campus core. This central green will become the forecourt of the surrounding academic
and campus community buildings. The southeast viewed rendering depicts both an amphitheater backing into the edge of the Fairfield
Canal to the west and a plaza that intersects Main Street 4.0 at the top of the image. Not depicted in this image, a smaller
version, the Petit Ellipse, will be located in the far northeastern edge of the campus plan.
To the south, depicted on the right will be a student center and student recreation facility. The perimeter of the Grand Ellipse
is envisioned as a controlled access road that is used primarily for pedestrian circulation. The Valley Oak tree is planned
as the main canopy tree that lines the perimeter of the Ellipse, again, tying back to the roots of the Central Valley landscape.
Internally, the Grand Ellipse will function as a park for day-to-day activities and a formal setting for ceremonial events.
This will be one of the few non-athletic open spaces that will be an open lawn space with areas of shade and informal tree
plantings featuring educational tree markers.
The east plaza at Main Street 4.0 will be formalized with a bosquet, or small ornamental forest, of California Fan Palms,
creating a tall overhead shade structure without blocking the horizontal view lines. Water retention of the Grand Ellipse
will be captured in a pond system at the foreground of the amphitheater with a riparian landscape quality. Also, note the
place-making, iconic bridges that cross the Le Grand Canal and rooftop solar arrays on some of the buildings.
Medium:
watercolor
Copyright Note:
Copyrighted by University of California Merced, Physical Planning Design and Construction Archives. Transmission or reproduction
of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners.
Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility
for any use rests exclusively with the user. For permissions to publish contact the University of California Merced, Physical
Planning Design and Construction Archives.