NYU Masterplan Competition, NYC, USA
for
role
status
year
DS+R
Project Leader
Competition
2007
As the centerpiece of the New York University’s Strategic Planning Initiative, the 6,000,000 sf master plan aims to develop an overarching vision for the growth of NYU’s Manhattan campus over the next 25 years that would meet the University’s increasing academic and housing space needs while preserving the neighborhood character, diversity, and historic architecture of downtown Manhattan. The master planning exercise also requested that strategies be developed that included and addressed the various satellite campuses both within the city and abroad. Foremost the goal was to create an enlarged and distinctive “core” campus in Manhattan.
The proposal was made to more than double the GSF of the superblock site by introducing a 3-4 story “mat structure” over the entire extent over the two superblock sites. This approach was deemed more sensible than trying to achieve the greater density with towers. The “mat structure” reintroduced the existing scale of the neighborhood along with the street wall along all edges of the site which would, together with the “campus corridors” reconnect the superblocks to the city grid.
In addition the street wall would become a new public interface between the institution and the neighborhood. Programmatic strategies were explored to activate this new street edge such to invite public/neighborhood engagement.
The “mat structure” approach also had the benefit of essential preserving one of the important existing assets of the existing development which was the extensive open space. In the proposal, this was transposed from the ground to a new raised “green roof” with the intention that there would be public access to this level.
The project sought to achieve the stated expansion goals of the university in a manner that would “give back” to the community thus forming a new partnership based on common vision for this part of Greenwich Village.
