New York University released today "Framework 2031," its "strategy for future growth," arguing that it was "reaching a tipping point" and that it needs 6 million more square feet of space "to create a vibrant intellectual community" and admitted that it has "not always recognized" that it owes "an obligation of care" to the "specialized, storied neighborhood" that houses its main campus in Greenwich Village.
The plan states that the university has "two major opportunities for remote growth"": "one is the existing location at the health corridor along First Avenue between 23rd and 34th Streets"; "the other is a new location, made possible with NYU's affiliation with Polytechnic University in downtown Brooklyn (now the Polytechnic Institute of NYU)."
The plan also proposes "a new academic program on Governor's Island, as development of this island proceeds."
The most controversial aspects of its plan, however, are at its "Washington Square Core" where it proposes building in the open spaces of two of the city's most architecturally important "towers-in-a-park" residential enclaves.
At Washington Square Village, it wants to build an underground facility in the large open space between the two impressive slabs of residential apartments and then erect two large irregularly-shaped buildings at the east and west ends of the open space, as shown in the illustration at the right.
To the west of Washington Square Village is the complex of three 30-story towers designed by I. M. Pei and clustered about a large sculpture by Picasso. The university wants to erect a 40-story tower at the northwest corner of the site and demolish an existing supermarket at the southwest corner and relocate it into a large "zipper" building of alternating building blocks on the eastern section of the site now occupied by a recreation center.
The university's plan said it "will be sensitive to its cultural and physical environments, promote a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use communities with accessible open space and build only when necessary and prioritize principles of adaptive re-use and "when it builds, NYU will strive to use the highest standards of green building technology."
In recent decades, the university has expanded greatly in Greenwich Village and its various new buildings have won few architectural accolades.
Of the six million additional square feet of space that it claims it needs by 2031, 3.5 million would be for academic purposes, 1.5 million for student housing, and 500,000 each for student services and faculty houses.
The plan noted that its plan would result in about 240 academic square feet per student as compared with 326 square feet at Columbia University, 428 square feet at the University of California at Berkeley, 673 square feet at Harvard University, 828 square feet at Princeton University and 866 square feet at Yale University.
The plan states that the university has "two major opportunities for remote growth"": "one is the existing location at the health corridor along First Avenue between 23rd and 34th Streets"; "the other is a new location, made possible with NYU's affiliation with Polytechnic University in downtown Brooklyn (now the Polytechnic Institute of NYU)."
The plan also proposes "a new academic program on Governor's Island, as development of this island proceeds."
The most controversial aspects of its plan, however, are at its "Washington Square Core" where it proposes building in the open spaces of two of the city's most architecturally important "towers-in-a-park" residential enclaves.
At Washington Square Village, it wants to build an underground facility in the large open space between the two impressive slabs of residential apartments and then erect two large irregularly-shaped buildings at the east and west ends of the open space, as shown in the illustration at the right.
To the west of Washington Square Village is the complex of three 30-story towers designed by I. M. Pei and clustered about a large sculpture by Picasso. The university wants to erect a 40-story tower at the northwest corner of the site and demolish an existing supermarket at the southwest corner and relocate it into a large "zipper" building of alternating building blocks on the eastern section of the site now occupied by a recreation center.
The university's plan said it "will be sensitive to its cultural and physical environments, promote a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use communities with accessible open space and build only when necessary and prioritize principles of adaptive re-use and "when it builds, NYU will strive to use the highest standards of green building technology."
In recent decades, the university has expanded greatly in Greenwich Village and its various new buildings have won few architectural accolades.
Of the six million additional square feet of space that it claims it needs by 2031, 3.5 million would be for academic purposes, 1.5 million for student housing, and 500,000 each for student services and faculty houses.
The plan noted that its plan would result in about 240 academic square feet per student as compared with 326 square feet at Columbia University, 428 square feet at the University of California at Berkeley, 673 square feet at Harvard University, 828 square feet at Princeton University and 866 square feet at Yale University.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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