VCU, architects unveil final design for Institute for Contemporary Art

Nick Bonadies Spectrum Editor

After several months of sneak peeks of the design for their $32-million Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU and the world-famous Steven Holl Architects unveiled the building’s final design this past Wednesday.

The 38,000-square-foot building will contain multiple multi-use programming spaces for the presentation of visual art, theater, music, dance, film and other mediums for students as well as public audiences. The design also includes a 247-seat auditorium, outdoor plazas, a sculpture garden, classrooms, a café and administrative offices.

The ICA’s multi-faceted and pointedly “open” design, including a first-story cafe by a sculpture garden, will allow the building to also function as a gathering place for students and the public.

“We have designed the building to be a flexible, forward-looking instrument that can illuminate the transformative possibilities of contemporary art,” said architect Steven Holl in an official statement. “Like many contemporary artists working today, the ICA’s design does not draw distinctions between the visual and performing arts. The fluidity of the design allows for experimentation, and will encourage new ways to display and present art that will capitalize on the ingenuity and creativity apparent throughout the VCU campus.”

The design also emphasized many environmentally-friendly elements, the architect said, “in advancement of VCU’s commitment to science, technology and environmental responsibility.” Geothermal wells will provide heating and cooling energy; green roofs will absorb storm water and maximize insulation; and specially-designed glass walls will wick out heat in the summer and harness it in the winter.

The ICA will take a spot currently inhabited by Parking Lot QQ on Broad and Belvidere streets, one of the most heavily traversed entrances to the VCU area. VCU Board of Visitors member Stuart C. Siegel said in an official statement that the building will form a “gateway to the university from the east.”

Internationally renowned architect Steven Holl, declared “America’s Best

Architect” by Time Magazine, was slated to design a major new contemporary art and cultural center on the VCU campus last summer.

Holl, whom VCU School of the Arts dean Joseph H. Seipel called “one of the most inspired and significant architects of our time” in a press release, was chosen by the VCU board of visitors out of a staggering 64 initial proposals.

The university said it hopes to open the ICA by 2015 and to break ground for construction by 2013. CT