It’s only fitting that a new academic facility for the Ringling College of Art and Design be artfully designed. In 2025 construction will kick off on the college’s Signature Academic Building, designed by Moody Nolan.
Reminiscent of a coiling celluloid film strip, the shining silver structure will be strategically placed at the entrance to the Sarasota, Florida campus, as a landmark that calls the attention of students and passerby. The 4-story building will house state-of–the-art facilities for students and faculty.
Ringling College trustee and chair of the Catalyst for Creativity Campaign Committee Ali Bahaj commented, “This iconic building will meet the needs of our award-winning digital academic programs and provide a gateway to our campus and community.”
The steel framed building was designed by Moody Nolan to enhance sustainability and energy efficiency. Central to the forthcoming Signature Academic Building is the oblong 2-story student event center that will accommodate up to 500 people. Other programmatic offerings include facilities for studying visual arts, among these playing around with virtual reality and making strides in the advancement of game design and computer animation. The academic spaces will also include instructional laboratories, support spaces, offices, and common spaces on each floor.
Renderings of the building from Moody Nolan show its exterior wrapped in metal, with slits across its facade opened slightly to reveal the integration of colors such as purple and green. The use of color is carried through the interior of the building, as beams realized in vibrant-colored hues hang from the ceiling in the artistic spaces.
By carving a path that reimagines the academic program within the larger landscape, the forthcoming Signature Academic Building on the Ringling College of Art and Design campus sets out to act as a landmark of innovation and creativity that extends beyond the academic milieu, to the greater Sarasota community.
