We are talking about the largest university in the state of Virginia (the official name of which is the Commonwealth of Virginia): the School of the Arts, which is part of it, has a solid reputation in the United States, and the new institute is designed to maintain this reputation.
The Hall is planned to be built with a series of spaces suitable for virtually all genres of visual and performing arts; it is assumed that there will be exhibited and performed by master experimenters using new media and erasing the barriers between different “formats”. The architect chose the same “barrier-free” approach.
To make the institute more open to visitors, Hall suggested that the entrance to it from the garden of sculptures be arranged in the form of two large “roto-doors” to avoid the over-solemnity of the traditional front door.
Inside the building, the premises of the first and second floors diverge in the form of a “fork” from the atrium, which unites not only multifunctional “galleries”, but a hall for 240 seats, cafes, classrooms and administration offices.
The facades of the institute will combine glazing with polished and artificially aged sheet zinc. The project claims LEED platinum certification: it provides for a geothermal heating and cooling system, a green roof with rainwater filtration, and improved thermal insulation of facades.
The total construction area will be 3,530 m2, the budget is $ 32 million. The opening is scheduled for 2015.
N. F.
