Academy of Art and Architecture

Conceived as an extension to the existing Rijkshogeschool, The Maastricht Academy for the Arts has provided new spaces for the academy of visual arts and architectural design. The building makes an incision into the city's body, an entirely new and foreign organism invading its urban context; a process akin to the operation of a virus. Yet it is set in a discrete, almost camouflaged relation to the city, providing an enclosed public space that achieves an intimate and secluded condition from the main area's of urban activity. The project includes the renewal of the existing Academy for the Arts, together with the extension affected by two buildings. Adjacent to the old building is the new structure that contains an auditorium, a library, an exhibition room, a bar and a roof garden. The connecting footbridge with translucent glass brick floor and ceiling leads one through the treetops into the workshop building, accommodating wood and steel workshops.