INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART VCU
RICHMOND
2018
(INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, VCU - STEVEN HOLL ARCHITECTS, n.d.)
Architect:
Steven Holl a New York based architect was born in 1947 in Bremerton, Washington, USA. After graduating from the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Design he continued his studies in Rome and later in Architectural Association in London where he befriended many prominent architects including Zaha Hadid.(Steven Holl Architect | Biography, Buildings, Projects and Facts, n.d.) In 1976 he established his own practice under the name ‘Steven Holl Architects’ with offices both in New York and Beijing. As well as being an architect Holl is also a renown watercolourist and a professor of architecture at Columbia University, where he has taught since 1981.(Steven Holl | Life & Architectural Career — Archisoup | Architecture Guides & Resources, n.d.) He currently teaches at the university about the relationship between architecture and music. Holl is in fact best known for his artistic designs influenced by contemporary theories of phenomenology as he confidently states that it is the site itself that speaks out the “architectural idea” that must be employed in its construction rather than the architect themselves. Holl was hugely inspired throughout his career by philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty and architect-theorist Juhani Pallasmaa and they have influenced the way he worked and designed his projects all his life. He won his first award in the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek International Library Design Competition in 1988, for an expansion and renovation of the American Memorial Library in Berlin; as well as the prestigious Alvar Aalto Medal 1998 together with many other awards for his work and in 1991, Holl was even named Time Magazines’s world’s best architect. Yet most importantly Holl is well respected for his outstanding daylight design; in 2016 he received a daylight award for projects that include: Storefront Gallery in New York, Spatial Retaining Bars in Phoenix as well as the Kiasma Museum in Helsinki and not forgetting the Linked Hybrid Apartment Blocks in Beijing.(Steven Holl - The Daylight Award, n.d.)
Client:
The building is an additional exhibition and performance centre for Virginia Commonwealth University campus in Richmond, Virginia. The new institute for contemporary arts joins the university with the surrounding area. VCU is a major, urban public research university with national and international rankings in sponsored research, it in fact the institute enrolls more than 31,000 students in 222 degree and certificate programs in the arts, sciences, and humanities.(About - Institute for Contemporary Art, n.d.)
(INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, VCU - STEVEN HOLL ARCHITECTS, n.d.)
Location:
The building is situated on the corner plot along Richmond's Broad Street, where it forms the gateway to the university's campus. It is known to be the busiest street in the city therefore the shape of the building was vital to fit the road and surrounding structures. In one of the interviews Holl explains how the shape of the building reflects the history of the location; as in the past this particular road was occupied by railway, the long rectangular structures on the campus side crossing one another are a representation of that. The series of volumes are arranged in a way that they form two entrances that face both the city and the campus. In this way the building is not only welcoming from the campus side but also from the street which was crucial as the Institute is an open building for everyone to visit either for viewing an exhibition or buying a coffee in the café. In conclusion the building very effectively connects the campus to the street even though it is the only modern piece of architecture in the area.
Critique:
The Institute of Contemporary Art consists of series of irregularly shaped blocks that slot together; it is simply a pair of irregularly shaped blocks, including one that almost forms a triangle that fronts the building and two stacks of rectangular blocks fork open on the campus side, these frame a sculpture garden and a pool, described by Holl himself as a "Thinking Field". (Steven Holl’s Institute for Contemporary Art Comprises Sculptural Blocks of Zinc and Translucent Glass, n.d.)
The front façade of the building is covered with translucent glass which is an effective way of allowing daylight to enter while keeping the privacy of the interior which in this case is hugely important as it faces the busiest junction in the city of Richmond. The view seen through those translucent glass panes is blurred which could almost be interpreted as a piece pf art itself depending from the time of day, other surfaces around this translucent façade are made of pre-weathered zinc, which complement the tone of the glass. The relationship between the glass and zinc is crucial especially when considering the illuminance in the space. During the day natural light would supply a fairly even ambient illumination throughout the space so that visual comfort is satisfied without any additional artificial light.
Due to the fact the glass is translucent instead of being transparent the issue of glare and veiling reflection within this space is resolved. Another clever daylight design in this project are the skylights; because the building is an institute of contemporary art, a specific amount of daylight has to seep in into each room depending on its purpose, from dancing studios, to model making spaces all the way to music rooms. Skylights are the type of windows where glare is usually not a problem as the light coming from above illuminates bigger area of a space than a wall window. Depending on the amount of light needed in a room, skylights can be controlled by choosing the appropriate size and placement. (Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU / Steven Holl Architects | ArchDaily, n.d.) Huge glass windows at the ground floor also allow enough light to enter as well as allowing a comforting view onto the garden and the lake.
Another interesting design in the project is the idea of glowing planes of obscure glass that activate the exterior at night. Video projections may appear on these obscure glass walls, animating the outdoor space with art, which is an additional way of illustrating art that merges with architecture.
