Institute for Contemporary Art, Virginia Commonwealth University - Steven Holl Architects

Sited at the busiest intersection of Richmond at Broad and Belvidere Streets, the Institute for Contemporary Art forms an inviting gateway to Virginia Commonwealth University.
The 41,000 square foot building is an open forum for contemporary artists to experiment and engage in dialogue across the region and throughout the world. Propelled by VCU’s top-ranked School of the Arts, the ICA’s architecture is an instrument for exhibitions, film screenings, public lectures, performances, and community events, engaging the University, the city, and beyond.
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 forms 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 ICA is organized into four galleries, each with a different character. The exterior matte translucent glass and pre-weathered titanium zinc skin share a subtly green-grey tonality, giving the building a shifting presence-from monolithic opacity to multifarious translucency 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.
Video credit: Milkbox NY
Thumbnail photo credit: Iwan Baan