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VISUAL ARTS BUILDING, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Iowa City, IA, United States. 2016

Description +

CLIENT: University of Iowa

SIZE: 126,000 sq ft

STATUS: Complete

The new Visual Arts facility for the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History provides 126,000 sf of loft-like space for the departments of ceramics, sculpture, metals, photography, print making and 3D multimedia. It also includes graduate student studios, faculty and staff studios and offices, and gallery space.

The building replaces an original arts building from 1936, which was heavily damaged during a flood of the University of Iowa campus in June 2008. The new building is located directly adjacent to and northwest of Art Building West, which Steven Holl Architects completed in 2006.

While the 2006 Arts Building West is horizontally porous and of planar composition, the new building is vertically porous and volumetrically composed. The aim of maximum interaction between all departments of the school takes shape in social circulation spaces.

Interconnection: Horizontal Programs, Vertical Porosity

In a school of the arts today, interconnection and crossover are of fundamental importance. Today digital techniques open up increased interconnection between all the arts. Interconnection between all of the departments is facilitated in the vertical carving out of large open floor plates. Students can see activities ongoing across these openings and be encourages to interact and meet. Further interconnection is facilitated by glass partitions along the studio walls adjacent to internal circulation.

Multiple Centers of Light

Natural light and natural ventilation are inserted into the deep floor plates via the “multiple centers of light.” Seven vertical cutouts encourage interaction between all four levels. These spaces of glass are characterized by a language of shifted layers where one floor plate slides past another. This geometry created multiple balconies, providing outdoor meeting spaces and informal exterior working space.

Stairs as Vertical Social Condensers: Corridors as Horizontal Meeting Spaces

Stairs are shaped to encourage meeting, interaction and discussion. Some stairs stop at generous landings with tables and chairs, others open onto lounge spaces with sofas.

Campus Space Definition/Porosity

The original grid of the campus breaks up at the river, becoming organic as it hits the limestone bluff. The Arts West building reflects this irregular geometry in fuzzy edges. The new building picks up the campus grid again in its simple plan, defining the new campus space of the “arts meadow.”

Material Resonance, Ecological Innovation

Natural ventilation is achieved via operable windows. A punched concrete frame structure provides thermal mass at the exterior while “bubble” slabs provide radiant cooling and heating. A Rheinzink skin in weathering blue-green is perforated for sun shade on the southwest and southeast.

As parts of the University of Iowa, both the Visual Arts Building and the Art Building West create an integral campus experience promoting interconnectivity. To see more about the Art Building West, completed in 2006, visit the project page here.

Ecological Innovation +

LEED Gold
LEED energy model shows 49% reduction in energy use, earning all 19 LEED points for optimizing energy performance
First U.S. building to implement radiant floor heating/cooling with bubble-voided concrete slab (reduces concrete by 30%)
Green roof
Perforated sunshade South facades reduce solar gain and optimize natural light
Honeycomb skylight diverts natural light through form
Natural ventilation via operable windows and skylights

Videos +

  • University of Iowa - Visual Arts Building & Art Building West - A Conversation with Steven Holl & Chris McVoy
  • University of Iowa - Visual Arts Building & Art Building West

Credits +

  • architect

    - Steven Holl Architects

    Steven Holl (design architect, principal)

    Chris McVoy (design architect, partner in charge)

    Rychiee Espinosa (project architect, associate)

    JongSeo Lee, Garrick Ambrose, Filipe Taboada, Christiane Deptolla, Garrett Ricciardi, Christopher Rotman, Christina Yessios, Johanna Muszbek, Yiqing Zhao, Bell Ying Yi Cai (project team)

  • associate architects

    - BNIM Architects

  • landscape architect

    - BNIM Architects

  • structural engineer

    - Buro Happold

    - Structural Engineering Associates

  • lighting consultant

    - L'Observatoire International

  • sustainability engineer

    - Transsolar

  • mechanical engineer

    - Design Engineers

  • curtain wall consultant

    - WJ Higgins & Co.

  • civil engineer

    - Shive-Hattery

  • audio/visual consultant

    - The Sextant Group Inc.

Quotes +


  • Rod Lehnertz, Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations, University of Iowa “We’ve got two wonderful buildings from Steven Holl Architects next to each other and it is truly difference making for an entire university and certainly School of Art and Art History.”
  • Kamin Blair, Architectural Record, January 2007 "Because of its flexibility and Holl’s creativity, Iowa’s art building uplifts both its users and its site. Holl figured out how to marry a relatively tight budget with an aesthetic appropriate for an art school. The thrillingly vertical stair has its horizontal counterpoint in the equally dazzling second-floor library, and L-shaped suite of spaces that works superbly as a viewing platform."

News +


  • 2020 07/26 University of Iowa Building Uses Thermally Activated “Bubble Deck” Slab
  • 2020 07/26 IN THE PRESS: “University of Iowa Building Uses Thermally Active “Bubble Deck” Slab
  • 2020 01/26 ON THE COVER: PM Engineer Features the Innovative Mechanical Systems that Benefit SHA’s Iowa Visual Arts Building
  • 2017 03/14 AIA New York Announces 2017 Design Awards
  • 2017 04/18 2017 American Architecture Award Winners Announced
  • 2017 04/18 More of the 2017 American Architecture Award Winning Projects
  • 2017 03/14 AIA New York Announces 2017 Design Awards
  • 2016 12/13 2016 Building of the Year > Midwest: University of Iowa Visual Arts Building by Steven Holl Architects
  • 2016 11/01 Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa
  • 2016 10/26 Centro de Artes Visuales de la Universidad de Iowa, Steven Holl Architects
  • 2016 10/21 Steven Holl, Visual Arts Building at University of Iowa
  • 1969 12/31 Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa
  • 2016 05/17 The Univesity of Iowa’s New Visual Arts Building by Steven Holl Nears Completion
  • 2007 01/01 Steven Holl Nicely Balances Expressionism and Functionalism in the University of Iowa’s School of Art and Art History
  • 2016 04/05 Construction Update: Visual Arts Building at University of Iowa
  • 2016 05/05 University of Iowa School of Art and Art History Moving In
  • 2016 10/06 The Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa, Designed by Steven Holl Architects, Opens October 7
  • 2016 12/05 The University of Iowa Visual Arts Building Wins Interior Design Magazine Best of the Year Award
  • 2017 03/10 The University of Iowa Visual Arts Building receives 2017 AIANY Design Award Honor
  • 2014 06/16 University of Iowa Visual Arts Building Rising, Performance Mock-Up Passes All Tests
  • 2010 02/16 Steven Holl Architects Selected to Design New Arts Building for University of Iowa Arts Campus

Awards +


  • 2018 EXCELLENCE IN CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION AWARDS, LOW RISE BUILDINGS - 1ST PLACE
  • 2017 CHICAGO ATHENAEUM AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE PRIZE
  • 2017 AIANY HONOR AWARD
  • 2017 THE WEIDT GROUP, COMMERCIAL NEW CONSTRUCTION, EXCELLENCE IN ENERGY EFFICIENT DESIGN
  • 2017 METAL CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION, CHAIRMAN'S AWARD FOR OVERALL EXCELLENCE
  • 2017 SARA NY, DESIGN AWARDS, DESIGN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
  • 2017 ENR, MIDWEST REGIONAL BEST HIGHER EDUCATION / RESEARCH PROJECT
  • 2017 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS, MCN BUILDING AND ROOFING AWARDS, NEW METAL WALLS
  • 2016 INTERIOR DESIGN BEST OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER - EDUCATION
  • 2016 ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER BUILDING OF THE YEAR AWARD: MIDWEST
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