The first thing you notice as you walk up to the University of Iowa’s new Visual Arts Building is the light, how the sun reflects off the stainless steel and zinc exterior so the building looks like a cloud floating up the hill from Riverside Drive.

Then you go inside.

There, enormous amounts of light pour into the building through dozens of exterior windows, some clear, some translucent, creating a pillar of light in the five-story central foyer. The light turns the gently sloping stairs that wind around the pillar gold or blue or white or gray, depending on the angle and intensity of the sun.

And it’s not just the central lobby, either. Nearly every room in the building—the studios, classrooms, offices, seminar rooms—receive direct sunlight. The intention is to provide an abundance of the single most important resource to a working artist—natural light.

“As architects and artists, light is our favorite material,” says Chris McVoy, who designed VAB with internationally renowned architect Steven Holl of Steven Holl Architects. “One of our goals was to let the language of light unfold as you move through the building.”

The light shines through multiple centers—square windows that conform to the Fibonacci sequence, floor-to-ceiling translucent windows that bring a diffused light into offices and light courts, and skylights that blanket the central foyer.

“The amount of light filling that gigantic space in the middle, that visual wedge of air and the different levels of light, are just amazing,” says Monica Correia, associate professor of art and director of the Undergraduate Program in Studio Arts. “The building is a piece of art in itself.”

And when the sun goes down, the process is reversed, so the light coming from inside shines through to the exterior. Windows otherwise hidden under a stainless steel screen during the day are revealed and turn VAB into a beacon for the west side of campus.

“It’s especially beautiful at night,” says MFA student Yingjie Chen.

Steve McGuire, professor of art and director of the Studio Arts Division in the School of Art and Art History, says everything inside VAB was built specifically for art and artists, and to facilitate teaching about art production: the classroom designs; the rooftop classroom terraces; the cutting-edge, environmentally friendly heating and air conditioning system; the ventilation systems that keep the air in foundries and woodcutting studios clean and safe. It’s designed for the 21st-century artist, one who is as likely to be a scientist or an engineer, who’s as adept with a band saw or a lathe as a paintbrush or camera.

“The facilities will help us incorporate technology and engineering into our art,” says Chen, who is studying 3-D design. “Design is not just about art; it’s about making life easier and pleasing people. It’s about different strategies, different materials, incorporating engineering into the art. What we have here in VAB will help that.”