Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (R.P.I.) is a private, nonsectarian, coeducational institution, providing courses at undergraduate and graduate levels to about 4,500 students in the city of Troy, located in the Hudson River Valley in the northeastern part of the state of New York. The campus is situated near the central business district of the city, and is spread over several irregular lots. R.P.I. desired an orderly campus and physical plant expansion, and brought Doxiadis Associates in to develop a master plan for an academic campus in which grounds and facilities would be efficiently organized and in harmony with the city.