NEW YORK, NY.- Steven Holl Architects in collaboration with BCWH Architects has won the commission for the new Institute for Contemporary Art for Virginia Commonwealth University. The building will create a new forum for the arts on campus and forge new connections to the arts community of the region.

The 32,000 square-foot Institute for Contemporary Art will showcase the works of the VCU School of the Arts. The building will provide gallery spaces for traveling and school exhibits, classrooms, offices, art storage spaces and an auditorium, and accommodate a sculpture garden and a café.

"Situated at one of the most traveled entrances to the city, the Institute for Contemporary Art will become the gateway and symbol of the creative energy of the city of Richmond," said Joseph H. Seipel, Dean of the VCU School of the Arts.

The selection process was to find an architect-led team and not to select a specific design. "We are honored to have Steven Holl, internationally recognized as one the most inspired and significant architects of our time,” said Seipel. “With Holl leading this endeavor, I am confident the ICA is destined to become an iconic building for VCU and the city of Richmond and will find its place as a prominent example of Steven Holl’s contributions to the history of architecture."

Steven Holl said, “We are very enthusiastic to be working with Virginia Commonwealth University. The Monroe Park campus environment presents unique opportunities for the Institute of Contemporary Art to act as a social condenser. We envision a new architecture as a catalyst between the public and the great School of the Arts.”