NYU’s main library, which anchors the southeastern corner of Washington Square Park, is not universally beloved; the AIA Guide to New York City calls the building “bulky and heavy-handed.” But the structure, designed by Philip Johnson and Richard Foster and opened in the 1970s, is perhaps the best-known of NYU’s buildings thanks to its hulking, red sandstone exterior. The interior has a light-filled atrium.

In contrast to the Cooper Union’s 19th-century foundation building, the college’s recent addition—a nine-story building designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis, which opened in 2009 and houses its school of engineering—is not a staid reminder of its 160-year-history. Instead, it looks to the future of the institution, with a “vertical piazza” at its center that’s meant to foster collaboration. The structure, which is clad in mesh, doesn’t blend in with its East Village neighbors, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing; as the New York Times’s critic Nicolai Ouroussoff wrote when it opened, the building is “a bold architectural statement of genuine civic value.”

The New School says its University Center, which opened in 2014 on the corner of 14th Street and Fifth Avenue, is “a striking embodiment of The New School’s mission of challenging the status quo”—and indeed, the glassy building is unlike other structures in the area. Designed by Roger Duffy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the structure has a series of staircases inside that are used in a variety of ways (seating, traveling, etc.). The facade reflects that; windows are placed along the exterior in such a way to give a peek at the collaboration happening within.

The Juilliard School’s HQ, designed by Pietro Belluschi, is one of Lincoln Center’s many midcentury gems. The building occupies the northwestern corner of the complex, and stands out thanks to its shape—“all cantilevers and boxy geometries,” as Paul Goldberger put it in the New Yorker—and its travertine exterior. In 2009, the building got a facelift courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro and FXCollaborative, who added more space to the building and let light in via a wall of windows facing Broadway.

Designed by Charles McKim of McKim, Mead, & White, Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library is undoubtedly one of New York’s most notable buildings. Built in 1897, the 149,779-square-foot structure, modeled after Rome’s Pantheon, is located at the center of the school’s campus, and is topped by an all-granite rotunda (originally used as the main university reading room). The famous Alma Mater bronze statue by Daniel Chester French sits on the structure’s steps. The building served as the university’s library until 1934, and is now used as an administrative and event space.

Architect George B. Post is responsible for this neo-Gothic confection on the City College campus in Harlem, distinguished by its facade made of Manhattan schist, the bedrock of the island (according to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, the schist was excavated from the land under the campus). White terra cotta provides a stunning contrast.

Bronx Community College’s campus in University Heights is an interesting collection of buildings, and one of New York City’s hidden architectural gems. It’s home to lovely turn-of-the-20th-century structures designed by Stanford White, as well as several Brutalist structures by Marcel Breuer. The Breuer buildings are unusual to find in these surroundings, but a must-visit for fans of the architect’s work.

Another Morphosis joint, the centerpiece of the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island is “sleek and shiplike,” according to Curbed architecture critic Alexandra Lange. The facade is clad in bronze mesh, with lots of windows that make the whole thing rather transparent. It also happens to be very eco-friendly: “On its roof, a curvy canopy of 1,465 photovoltaic panels generate energy and shade the building in order to allow it to reach net-zero status,” per Lange’s review of the space.

One of the newest buildings on Pratt’s Clinton Hill campus is Myrtle Hall, which was designed by WASA/Studio A and holds classrooms, open space, and the university’s student services. The six-story structure isn’t merely a university building, though; the side facing Myrtle Avenue brought public space and new businesses to the thoroughfare, connecting it to the larger neighborhood rather than isolating itself on a campus.