It is written ICA but it means "Institute for Contemporary Arts": it’s the last work signed by Steven Holl Architects, which costed 7 years’ work and 41 million dollars. In addition to connecting the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Campus to the town of Richmond, the new exhibition center for contemporary art aims to be a link between university and contemporary artists and to encourage the development of collaborations with departments, faculties, students and the entire local community. Consisting of seven volumes arranged in a "radial pattern" and divided into three levels on the inside, the complex is spread over 3800 square meters of surface and include a large entrance hall, four flexible exhibition halls, a theater and a conference room, administrative offices, a coffee shop, a store, depots and spaces for the preparation of exhibitions.

 

What exalts the structure is above all the choice of coating materials: the opaque translucent exterior glass, in particular, changing its perception from monolithic to multi-purpose translucent opaque, depending on the light, creates particular suggestions. In particular, in the dark, the darkened light glass surfaces activate the external covering and transform the volumes into a lantern on which to reproduce video projections. A multi-sensorial work of art that does not forget sustainability: in fact, ICA belongs to qualified buildings in the LEED Gold category, heated and cooled thanks to geothermal wells.