NYU Abu Dhabi, through its NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, is a world-class center of cutting-edge research, scholarship, and cultural activity. Situated at a strategic hemispheric crossroads in a rapidly evolving city, the Institute creates singular opportunities for leading faculty members from across the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, and the professions to carry out creative scholarship and conduct research on issues of major disciplinary, multidisciplinary, and global significance. The Institute also hosts academic conferences, workshops, lectures, film series, performances, and other public programs directed both to local audiences and the worldwide academic and research community.
Master planning for the permanent campus on Saadiyat Island was launched in June 2008 with Rafael Viñoly Architects PC. It will establish a physical and spatial framework for development of the campus. Design guidelines will develop a basic vocabulary for the campus, which will comprise numerous buildings. The guidelines will reflect underlying design goals, such as responsiveness to the climate, and address such issues as building materials and height. Individual buildings will be designed by a variety of architects. Construction began in the summer of 2009 and the campus is scheduled to open in 2014. Throughout the planning, design, and construction processes, updated information and images will be available on the NYU Abu Dhabi website.
