MASS Design Group

Exactly five years ago today, on July 10, 2021, the Robert E. Lee statue was removed from Charlottesville’s Market Street Park. Today, MASS is deeply humbled to announce that our team, in collaboration with visionary sculptor Dana King, has been selected as the winner of the Swords into Plowshares project.

The Swords into Plowshares competition was a community-driven design initiative in Charlottesville, Virginia, that challenged artists and architects to transform the melted bronze of the city’s former Lee statue into a new public artwork reflecting healing, inclusion, and hope.

“ROOTED” reimagines Charlottesville’s Market Street Park, transforming a space historically defined by racialized exclusion and intimidation into a beacon for justice, dignity, and belonging. At the heart of the park will stand a 27-foot-tall bronze Baobab tree, a profound symbol of life, interconnection, and persistence throughout the African diaspora.

The design envisions a true commons, vital and open to all. The Baobab forms a seven-sided pavilion, inviting everyone to step inside, gather, and share space. Gardens radiate around a multifunctional plaza, connecting us to the earth.

We are honored to carry forward the deep community engagement that has been stewarded by the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center to inform the evolution of the design. We will host extensive listening sessions, online surveys, and community workshops to ensure this space serves the specific needs of the city while we invite local descendants and community members to imprint their hands directly into the bronze base of the tree.

We cannot wait to continue to work alongside the people of Charlottesville to bring this vision to life.

Learn more about the design journey at the link in our bio.