The seven year lease on the current 1555 Century Avenue address has three and a half years remaining. So by 2022, NYU Shanghai will be looking very different. Students and administration have already begun the process of discussing and designing the new campus.

NYUSH will soon relocate to the World Expo center area. This new location is still in Pudong, but just one stop away from Puxi, off line eight. Dean of Students Charlene Visconti expects the new building to focus on space for study, research and community. She also believes it’s highly important for students to be involved in the design process.

“I agree that it is important to get as many perspectives as possible. I think we all agree that we need more community space overall, and we are excited about creating something from the ground up,” Visconti said.

A group of students, faculty, building staff and administration personnel met with the architects designing the building to give feedback. Junior Andreas Strandgaard was part of the group and noted that the meeting was definitely successful in making sure student opinion was heard. When asked what he thought was missing from the school, he commented that being in one building, while it definitely has its advantages, creates a lot of pressure on the students. There isn’t really a place students can go to get away from the second floor cafe or B1 cafeteria. All of the students agreed there definitely needs to be some sort of outdoor space.

Additionally, Strandgaard and other students noted that there seems to be a lack of school spirit. They partially attributed this to the fact that, in the current building, there’s no place to really congregate as a whole school. In the new building, the architects plan on building three functional underground floors, one of which will be a high school style gymnasium large enough to gather the entire student body.

Strandgaard also shared that the school wants to maintain its current one-building style, but plans on building an additional smaller building specifically for science. Students suggested that the two buildings be connected by a covered walkway or underground passage so no one has to transfer between the two buildings in the rain. Also, this science building will be another way the school utilizes its partnership with East China Normal University. ECNU students will be allowed to come use the science facilities.

While the school is starting from scratch constructing the academic building, the dorms will move to pre-existing buildings. Strandgaard raised the question of what kind of neighborhood the dorms will be in; will they be similar to the residential neighborhood of Jin Qiao or a more lively Puxi-feeling neighborhood with shops and restaurants? Unfortunately, the school has not yet decided on the exact location of the residence halls.

“The residence halls will move closer to the new campus as well, but we have not settled on the particulars yet. It is a strong priority for the residence halls to be walking distance to the campus,” Visconti said.

The architects will be back in November with the finished designs. After discussion, they can start building.