NYU Core Possibilities

As a guiding principle, the Design Team has been working to maximize existing assets already owned by NYU. The Design Team has identified several sites that have development capacity in the Core and could present opportunities for appropriate expansion or development.

NYU Core Today

The NYU Core lies at the intersection of several vibrant neighborhoods - Greenwich Village, the East Village, NoHo, and SoHo. In the blocks east of Washington Square Park, former manufacturing buildings now house classrooms, academic departments, and offices. Other NYU facilities located around the Park range from Victorian townhouses to modernist Bobst Library. Lastly, the "superblocks", created during the Urban Renewal era, form the south side of the Core.

NYU 2031 Possibilities

Proposals for the NYU Core over the next 25 years focus primarily on adding new academic, residential, and open space to the two superblocks; strengthening connections between the superblocks and the NYU buildings to the north; and improving the quality of the Core's public realm.

The designs are intended to be flexible, but not to be prescriptive about the exact shape or program for that development. The plans, massings, and visualizations are meant to suggest future possibilities, recognizing that final configurations and architecture may be different.

Fourth Tower on University Village Site

A key feature of the existing University Village site plan, located on the blocks bounded by Bleecker Street to the north; Houston Street to the south; LaGuardia Place to the west and Mercer Street to the east, is that no view from one tower is obstructed by one of the other towers. By aligning the footprint of a fourth tower along the Wooster Street axis, the new building would not obstruct views. The fourth tower could complete the pinwheel geometry of the site, forming a backdrop to the Tower designed by I.M. Pei in the early 1960s.

Fourth Tower on University Village Site

This photo of the current site is taken from north side of Bleecker Street near the corner of LaGuardia Place.

Fourth Tower on University Village Site

A fourth tower at the University Village site could enhance the 1950/1960s "tower in the park" urban design concept, which placed modernist towers within an open, park-like setting. The addition of a new tower, as well as landscape and circulation improvements, could help build upon Pei's pinwheel configuration and create a dialogue with the existing three towers. The existing towers and landscape are being reviewed for landmark designation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. This concept looks at leaving the Morton Williams site as an open space, whereas other options previously explored by the Design Team looked at development on the supermarket site.

Coles "Zipper Loft"

The Coles Gymnasium site located on the west side of Mercer Street between Houston and Bleecker Streets provides an opportunity to improve the urban and physical character of the area and add new flexible space to the University. The "Zipper Loft" building, named for its zipper form and loft typology, is contextual and reflects the massing and elevations of adjacent buildings.

Coles "Zipper Loft"

Coles currently presents blank facades along Houston and Mercer Streets. The single entrance on Mercer Street decreases activity along the remaining building edge. In addition, the public spaces and playgrounds outside of Coles are underutilized. The "Zipper Loft" building could address the opportunity to correct Coles Gymnasium's negative visual and physical impacts by locating new active uses on the ground-level with building forms above that are programmatically flexible and echo adjacent buildings.

Coles "Zipper Loft"

A base of the proposed building could accommodate both retail and academic programs, whereas the upper levels could be utilized for housing or academic uses. The building edge could be aligned with the sidewalk - unlike Coles, which is set back - and ground-floor retail could provide street activity.

The orientation of the upper levels could allow for building massing that maximizes southern exposure to light and air. In addition, the building scale could reflect the tall and narrow elevations of the loft buildings across Mercer.

Coles "Zipper Loft"

This view is of the west side of Mercer Street at Bleecker looking south after possible improvements.

WSV Plinth and Tower

The Plinth and Tower proposal provides additional space in Washington Square Village, located on the blocks bound by West 3rd Street to the north; Houston Street to the south; Mercer Street to the east; LaGuardia Place to the west, with limited development along the edges and a low scale "plinth" that occupies the center of the site.

WSV Plinth and Tower

The Plinth and Tower option could anchor Washington Square Village with a new public open space, which includes playgrounds, plazas, and recreation areas. The option could also add a significant amount of new academic space. This could be achieved with a one- to two-level plinth between the two Washington Square Village buildings and new underground space. The open space could be "book-ended" by a pavilion building on LaGuardia Place and a taller building on Mercer Street.

A concept for consideration for beyond 2031...
WSV Grid Restoration

A key focus of the scheme would be the improvement of the Washington Square Village public realm and the quality of adjacent streets. Open space on the plinth's roof could be publicly accessible from gently sloping ramps off LaGuardia and Mercer. The above rendering shows a public plaza on LaGuardia Place which could offer a new gathering place for neighborhood residents, visitors as well as the NYU Community. Improvements to surface materials, lighting, landscaping and trees, and street furniture would enhance the public realm of LaGuardia Place and Mercer Street. Any playground or public open space occupied by this concept would be replaced elsewhere square foot for square foot on the superblock.

A concept for consideration for beyond 2031...
WSV Grid Restoration

The Grid Restoration concept, an alternative that could be explored for the Washington Square Village site beyond the year 2031, is not an option for the foreseeable future but may make programmatic and financial sense at some more distant point. The option looks at integrating Washington Square Village with surrounding neighborhoods and providing a significant amount of new academic and residential space.

A concept for consideration for beyond 2031...
WSV Grid Restoration

Grid Restoration, which could be explored beyond the year 2031, looks at reestablishing three Manhattan blocks that were combined into a single superblock during the 1950s Urban Renewal era. Restoring these streets could eliminate the enclosed character of the superblock and establish a block pattern that is more in keeping with the neighborhood. New development on this site would allow flexibility for academic or residential space to meet whatever the future needs may be.

The heights of new buildings would be at scales that relate to adjacent buildings. Lower buildings along LaGuardia Place and higher ones along Mercer Street reflect building heights across each street. The new buildings could strengthen the streetwall along LaGuardia Place and Mercer Street and activate sidewalks with ground-level retail.

A concept for consideration for beyond 2031...
WSV Grid Restoration

This concept could also provide a new large open space at the northeast corner of LaGuardia Place and Bleecker Street, and shared by both the community and NYU. The open spaces could be designed to replace and enhance any existing playground, dog-run, or other displaced program. The edges of the open space could be activated by ground-level retail with the upper levels of buildings occupied by academic or residential uses.

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