NYU Center for Data Science
Feature Wall

New York University’s Center for Data Science sought to endow their new lobby with a sophisticated, distinctive feature wall rather than off-the-shelf decoration. The feature wall needed to communicate the ideals and values of the university, and present a beautiful environment for the students, faculty, and guests passing through the halls on a daily basis, while also providing an intriguing visual presence for people walking by on the street. At the same time, the wall needed to maintain a degree of subtlety and understatement to avoid being too loud or distracting.

Leandra Tidwell, working with creative director Rocco Piscatello and the team at Piscatello Design Centre, designed a feature wall that expresses the global nature of NYU’s campuses, using organic imagery to symbolize NYU’s growth and progress. The design incorporates the street maps of NYU’s campuses from around the world into a tree leaf pattern. The concept was inspired by the courtyard of trees found in the adjacent property that shares the corner of West 12th Street on Fifth Avenue. The wall was constructed from routed panels to further emulate the texture of a leaf, and painted in a monochromatic scheme so it would not be intrusive to the students who use the space to study and the faculty who call the Center home.