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The site at the University Iowa campus is adjacent to a
lagoon and a limestone cliff. Along the Iowa River,
the existing building is a brick structure with a central body and flanking
wings built in 1937. The Iowa City Grid extends across the river to the limestone
bluffs where it breaks up. The new building straddles these two morphologies.
A 1960's addition to the school extends along the river and joins the
building, covering the river facing entrance.
CONCEPT: A Hybrid Instrument of Open Edges and Open Center
The new building partially bridges the lagoon and partially connects the
organic geometry of the limestone bluff. Implied rather than actual volumes
are outlined in the disposition of spaces. Rather than an object, the
building is like a "formless" instrument. Flat or curved planes are
slotted together or assembled with hinged sections. Flexible spaces open out
from studios in warm weather. The school's architecture represents a hybrid
vision of the future half bridge-half loft, half theory-half practice, and
half human-half scientific.
The main horizontal passages are meeting places with interior glass walls
exposing on-going work. The interplay of light and shadow is controlled due
to the shade resulting from the overlapping planar exterior. The interior
floors are suspended from the light capturing planar beams, which also hold
the air distribution ducts and fluorescent light pockets.
As a working and flexible teaching instrument, the building connects interior
functions in spatial overlap at its center. This space is envisioned as a
"social condenser" where ongoing work can be observed. Around the
perimeter, the spaces overlook, overlap, and engage the natural landscape of
the surroundings. The dispersion and "fuzziness" of the edges is
seen as a positive way to embrace phenomena such as sunlight reflected from
water on the lagoon and the up-reflected white light of freshly fallen snow
in wintertime.
The principles of the most economical building type in America --
the prefabricated steel building -- are employed in the building structure
and materials. Metal sheets gain strength in folding while using a minimum of
material.
The richness in the architectural language is developed in the inventive use
and combination of basic elements such as fluorescent tubes for lighting
hidden by the bottom flange of steel beams or the merging of painted ductwork
and steel structure.
The red coloring of the new building relates it to the original red brick
structure, as does its relatively low landscape-embracing profile. We
envision a new facility of inspiring interior spaces and natural light
working like a formless instrument toward cultural production of past,
present, and future art. It will be a first rate art facility placing The
University of Iowa at the highest level in art education in America.
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