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Wang Architects

center for academic and spiritual life

Project team

This building is located on the south side of one of the world’s most premier public spaces, Washington Square Park in New York City. When approaching from the north, the site is directly on the axis with 5th Avenue and is framed by the view through the Washington Memorial Arch. This project serves as the new gateway from the City to New York University. As its name communicates, the Center for Academic and Spiritual Life functions as a facility for learning and also serves a multiplicity of various religious groups, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian student bodies.

Gary Wang, AIA, Project Manager/Senior Designer

Jorge Silvetti, Principal (Machado and Silvetti)

Robert Sillman Associates, Structural Engineers

Thomas Polise Enginners, MEP

Brook Farm Group, Landscape

George Sexton Associates, Lighting

Photography by Wang Architects

Green Roof Photo by Brook Farm Group

For this reason, the façade is not designed with one particular religious iconography in mind, but instead has a shared and collective identity. Because square footage comes at such an expense in New York City, this building is truly designed as an all-purpose, flexible facility. It houses classrooms, global networking rooms, and lecture halls that are also fully functional assembly spaces, galleries, and orchestra rehearsal and performance spaces.

In order to perform at the highest level for various uses, rooms are set up with specialized lighting, temperature, and acoustic controls that can oscillate between different settings for different events as they take place. This project received a LEED gold rating. Executing a project in one of America’s most important civic squares, Washington Square, made this project one of the most scrutinized projects we’ve ever accomplished. We made countless presentations to satisfy all the important stakeholders.

We had also never done a building like this before, with this type of program, and this type of technology for the water-jet cut stone. Another challenge for NYU was that the Architect of Record, Gary Wang, lives in Texas, and the project is in New York. Gary flew to NYC every single week to meet with the client and contractors to execute this project.

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