In early May, as students prepared for final exams and seniors geared up for graduation, Interactive Media Arts Assistant Arts Professor Andy Garcia’s students gathered at the 7th floor rooftop garden to unveil the results of a semester’s hard work in his Industrial Design in Action class.
“Everyone understands a chair, a sofa—everyone has an experience of sitting or laying or interacting with furniture,” he explained. But in this class, he added, “we go beyond some standard furniture, and we do something a bit more creative and exploratory.”
Each time Garcia teaches the class, he challenges his students to create furniture for the NYU Shanghai campus community. This time, his students created garden furniture to turn the rooftop garden from a conduit between the South and West halls to a place to linger and connect with others. “The whole point of it is to create more community spaces,” he said.
The students acted as their own design studio, conducting interviews with students, faculty, and staff to learn how they would like to interact with the garden space. They pitched their ideas to Garcia and a team of “clients,” making sure their designs met certain specifications, including height limit, materials, cost, and cohesion with the other projects.
Over seven weeks, the students worked in teams to create 3D models envisioning their furniture designs, build prototypes, prep materials, and finally assemble the furniture pieces on the rooftop.
Garcia, with years of experience as an artist and designer, led them through the process, supporting them as they developed their plans, offering expert advice, and ensuring design quality.
“The greatest challenge was budget because there’s a lot of wood—70 pieces,” said Aimée Tang ’28 and Xin Bei ’26, part of the team behind “Mellow Flow,” a curved wooden bench whose shape evokes a wave. “We invited a lot of friends to come by and help. We sanded, painted each piece three times by hand, and water proofed them.”
“We want it to be an interesting break space for people to hang out, in conversation with the other pieces,” said their teammate Jing Ran ’26.
Just opposite the bench, the same soft waves were reflected in “Rice,” a tiered seating area inspired by an amphitheater. Assembling the 30 pieces together was a painstaking process, said the team members, as the students were constantly editing and making improvements. “We had to measure and recut some pieces,” recalled co-designer Melissa Ching ’26. “I woke up the next day with half my body sore.”
Evan Pan ’26, who with his teammates designed “Wind Chime,” a pair of hammocks facing each other to facilitate conversation, said the rooftop garden furniture builds community, something that is needed on campus. “It's just an incredible place that really solves something at NYU Shanghai that's been a problem for a while,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think we just want a place where people can feel at home and be comfortable, to depressurize, really relax, and just have a great time.”
That was exactly the vibe at the rooftop party marking the end of the class and the installation of the furniture pieces, where Garcia encouraged the students and community members to put the furniture to the test. “Just enjoy! You can lay [on them], you can jump [on them],” he told them. “I'm pretty confident they will resist all the abuse that you throw at them, because they are built very well.”
At the center of the party was the “All in One Platform,” which was laden with snacks and drinks. Co-designer Fatima Kazim ’26 said her team designed it to welcome visitors to play together. “That’s why it kind of looks like a tic-tac-toe table, and the legs are kind of like Jenga,” she explained. “We wanted to make it have a more fun look.”
Even after all the planning and thoughtful design that went into the creation of their furniture, some of the students were surprised to see the impact users had on each piece’s function. “At first we were thinking of a more chill environment, but now with people around, it’s a more fun, party vibe,” reflected co-designer Adeliya Aitpayeva, a sophomore from NYU Abu Dhabi.
A group of friends piled on to “The Mesh,” a giant hammock, testing how many people it could support (the answer: at least eight). “Originally our design didn’t look like this at all,” said co-designer Mia Lin ’28. “Andy reminded us that simple designs are better and to focus on usability—it needs to be a place to relax.”
As wind chimes clinked softly in the breeze, a pair of friends sprawled out on the pair of hammocks for one last catch up before the summer while Henry Frazier ’26 manned the DJ decks on the top tier of “Rice,” transforming it from a seating area into a stage. Classmates sat opposite enjoying the show together from their perch on “Mellow Flow.”
Celebrating together at that moment, the classmates recognized the value of what they had created. More than just a piece of furniture, they had crafted a legacy, a space where for years to come, community members could come to connect, share, and dream.
“Most projects are dismantled, but this course is so different—we created a long-lasting project for everyone on campus,” said Rebecca Lin Xiong ’26, co-designer of “The Mesh.” “I wanted to build something for this community, because that is what I love most about this place.”