INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, VCU
Richmond, VA. United States. 2018
Description +
PROGRAM: gallery spaces, lobby, 240-seat performance space, cafe, administrative offices, classroom, sculpture terrace, art storage spaces.
CLIENT: Virginia Commonwealth University
SIZE: 41,000 sq ft
STATUS: Complete
Sited at the edge of the Virginia Commonwealth University campus in Richmond, Virginia, the new Institute for Contemporary Art links the University with the surrounding community. On the busiest intersection of Richmond at Broad and Belvidere Streets, the building forms a gateway to the University with an inviting sense of openness.
The city-facing entrance is formed by an intersection of the performance space and forum, adding a “Z” component to the “X-Y” movement of the intersection. The torsion of these intersecting bodies is joined by a “plane of the present” to the galleries in “forking time.”
The idea of “forking time” suggests that in the world of contemporary art there are many parallel times. The notion of one ongoing time and its “grand narrative” of history is questioned. The new Institute for Contemporary Art is organized in four galleries, each with a different character.
The exterior matte translucent glass and pre-weathered titanium zinc skin share the same greenish-grey tonality, giving the building a shifting presence, from monolithic opaque to multifarious translucent, depending on the light. The four rooftop gardens include a sculpture terrace on the second level for site-specific artist installations. The LEED Gold building is heated and cooled with geothermal wells, harvesting the same amount of energy during the winter to heat the building as it restores in the summer to cool the building.
With its inviting double-fronted forum opening to a serene sculpture garden, the 41,000 sq ft building provides spatial energy for the most important cutting-edge contemporary art exhibits. Propelled by VCU’s top-ranked School of the Arts, the ICA’s architecture is an instrument for exhibitions, film screenings, public lectures, performances, symposia, and community events, engaging the University, the city, and beyond.
Ecological Innovation +
LEED Gold
Geothermal heating & cooling
Natural light galleries
Transparent glass cavity wall
Active slab conditioning with displacement air humidity control
Videos +
- Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU
- Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU
Credits +
architect
- Steven Holl Architects
Steven Holl (design architect, principal)
Chris McVoy (design architect, partner in charge)
Dominik Sigg, Dimitra Tsachrelia (project architects)
Garrick Ambrose, Rychiee Espinosa, Scott Fredricks, Gary He, Martin Kropac, JongSeo Lee, Yasmin Vobis, Christina Yessios (project team)
associate architects
- BCWH Architects
Charles Piper (partner in charge)
Bo Fairlamb (project manager)
Jason Dufilho (project architect)
structural engineer
- Robert Silman Associates
mechanical engineer
- Arup
- Ascent Engineering
landscape consultant
- Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture
lighting consultant
- L'Observatoire International
audio/visual consultant
- Convergent Technologies Design Group, Inc.
theater technical consultant
- Theatre Consultants Collaborative
elevator consultant
- Jenkins & Huntington
food services consultant
- Food Services Consultants Studio
code consultant
- Jensen Hughes
LEED consultant
- Sustainable Design Consulting
curtainwall consultant
- W.J. Higgins & Associates, Inc.
envelope
- WDP & Associates
-
News +
- 2021 04/30 Institute for Contemporary Art’s 3 Year Anniversary
- 2021 04/21 Celebrating the Three Year Anniversary of the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU
- 2020 06/29 BILL ROYALL TRIBUTE
- 2020 06/17 IN THE NEW YORKER: “HOW THE CORONOVIRUS WILL RESHAPE ARCHITECTURE”
- 2020 01/24 Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Contemporary Art has been nominated for Best New Museum in USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Contest
- 2019 04/23 The Institute of Contemporary Art at VCU Wins AIANY Merit Award
- 2018 12/18 Celebrating the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU
- 2018 10/16 Institute for Contemporary Art wins Architizer’s A+ Awards 2018 Project of the Year
- 2018 04/13 Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU Opens to the Public on April 21
- 2017 10/17 New Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU Will Open April 21, 2018
- 2017 04/14 On a Road Trip Through Virginia, Change Meets Tradition
- 2017 03/13 This October, Insitute for Contemporary Art, designed by Steven Holl, opens in Richmond
- 2017 03/26 First Impressions: The ICA at VCU
- 2017 03/10 Guest Blogger Deb Sokolow: Research for an Idiosyncratic Visitor’s Guide
- 1969 12/31 Grace Street demolitions make way for ICA
- 2016 08/09 Behind the Scenes at VCU’s $41.2 Million Institute for Contemporary Art
- 2013 01/01 Q&A: Steven Holl
- 2016 11/01 Construction Update: Markel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University
- 2011 05/31 Steven Holl Architects Selected to Design New Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University
- 2012 04/19 Steven Holl Architects to unveil design for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Contemporary Art at Meulensteen on April 26
- 2012 04/25 Virginia Commonwealth University Unveils Design for New Multidisciplinary Arts Institution Designed by Steven Holl Architects
- 2014 06/03 Virginia Commonwealth University New Institute for Contemporary Art celebrates groundbreaking
Awards +
- 2017 ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST, MOST ANTICIPATED BUILDINGS OF 2018 LIST
- 2018 THE ART NEWSPAPER, MOST IMPORTANT MUSEUM OPENINGS OF 2018 LIST
- 2018 AIA RICHMOND, HONOR AWARD
- 2018 MIES CROWN HALL AMERICAS PRIZE, NOMINATION
- 2018 ARCHITIZER, 2018 HONOREES, PROJECT OF THE YEAR
- 2018 ARCHITIZER, CONCEPTS - PLUS-ARCHITECTURE + ENGINEERING, SHORTLIST
- 2018 AIA VIRGINIA, MERIT AWARD
- 2018 HISTORIC RICHMOND AND STOREFRONT FOR COMMUNITY DESIGN, GOLDEN HAMMER AWARDS, PLACEMAKING SHORTLIST
- 2019 AIA NY DESIGN AWARD
- 2019 AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE AWARD
