Visual Arts Building continues to receive national and international recognition

Monday, February 27, 2017

Visual Arts Building
The University of Iowa's new Visual Arts Building, which opened for classes this fall.

The University of Iowa’s new state-of-the-art Visual Arts Building, which opened in October, has been the object of extremely high regard among those in the architecture world, the higher education realm, and the Iowa City community. The building continues to receive prestigious awards and see coverage in regional, national, and international publications.

The 126,000-square-foot Visual Arts Building was designed by Steven Holl Architects in New York and BNIM Architects in Kansas City, Mo., and built by Miron Construction. Among the building’s features are an atrium-like central skylight, channel-glass walls, and assorted square windows. The building houses five galleries and a 70-seat auditorium.

Recognition for the Visual Arts Building includes:

  • Architects Newspaper: Best of Design, Building of the Year Award: Midwest
  • Interior Design Magazine: Best of the Year Award, Education
  • GA Document 140: Featured on Jan. 23
  • Iowa Ready Mixed Concrete Association: 2016 Excellence in Concrete Awards
  • Architectural Record: One of the "Top 10 Projects of 2016"
  • Wired: One of the "25 Masterpieces that Prove 2016 was an Incredible Year for Architecture"
  • DOMUS: Featured on Dec. 14
  • New York Times: Featured on Aug. 4 and Sept. 16
  • Received coverage by more than 30 regional, national, and international news outlets and architecture publications

The building is used by printmaking, ceramics, 3-D design, metal arts and jewelry, sculpture, painting and drawing, graphic design, intermedia and video art, and photography.

The School of Art & Art History is part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.