The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art honored with The International Architecture Award for 2024 from The Chicago Athenaeum

BNIM is honored to receive The International Architecture Award for 2024 for the design of The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art. As one of the most distinguished, global building award program presented by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, together with The European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and Metropolitan Arts Press, Ltd., the International Architecture Awards recognize excellence in architecture and urbanism from a global point-of-view. The program pays tribute to new developments in design and underscores the directions and understanding of current cutting-edge processes consistent with today’s design thinking.

The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art establishes a new cultural arts destination on campus that creates a state-of-the-art and resilient home for the museum’s extensive and world-renowned collection. When historic flooding of the Iowa River impacted the University of Iowa campus in 2008, the University’s art museum was left without a permanent home on campus. The museum envisioned a new destination on campus that would serve as a reimagined library and laboratory for the arts and support its mission in encouraging transformative encounters with works of art and contemplation of the human story.

The Stanley Museum of Art’s carefully crafted form provides a protective, respectful home for the collection while supporting integral connections to nature, campus, and community. Engaging public spaces, flexible galleries, outdoor terraces, a sculpture courtyard, and volunteer and staff collaborative space contribute to a vibrant museum experience. An inviting entry plaza and transparent, daylight-filled art lounge lobby, adjacent to Gibson Square Park, serve as an inviting front door for the facility and provide space for performances, student gathering, classes, and artist talks, allowing artistic expression to extend from within the walls of the museum to become a central component of the campus experience.

Learn more about the design of The University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art.