LOCATION
Iowa City, Iowa

AREA
68,340 GSF

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
One of the foremost examples of contemporary architecture on campus, this building renews the University’s commitment to the “Iowa Idea” of linking humanists and artists. Space for the studio and academic study of art has been reconsolidated here, making up for decades of splintering in various places around campus. Because this building had to be a work of art itself, Architect Stephen Holl sought inspiration from Pablo Picasso’s 1912 sculpture, Guitar (Museum of Modern Art, New York). The concept is visible in the cantilevered wing—the instrument’s fretboard—and its curved east façade—the soundbox.

The dynamic forms of Art Building West engage and energize the lagoon, weaving it into the life of the campus and encouraging people to linger by the water and adjacent limestone bluff. In the atrium, a seemingly self-supporting steel stair evokes the revolutionary early twentieth-century style of Russian Constructivism. It acts as a floating piece of sculpture in this community space.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

• The dynamic forms of the University of Iowa, Art Building West, engage users with nature. Specifically, a lagoon weaves natural elements into campus life.
• All MEP systems were integrated into the structure, utilizing thickened precast core slabs for supply air distribution, fire suppression piping, electrical, lighting, and telecommunications.
• Because most of the equipment was located at the basement level, below the water table, Alvine Engineering took special design precautions to ensure water tightness.
• Sump pumps and strategically located collection points were identified and installed where leakage would likely occur.
• Because of the building’s intricate layout, Alvine Engineering approached the design of MEP systems hands-on with the architect and design team. Doing so ensured the design standards meshed with the needs of the building and budget.

Photography credit: Christian Richters Photography