41 Cooper Square in New York City by Morphosis Architects

Article source: Morphosis Architects

41 Cooper Square, the new academic building for The Cooper Union in New York City, aspires to manifest the character, culture, and vibrancy of both the 150 year-old institution and of the city in which it was founded. The institution remains committed to Peter Cooper’s radically optimistic intention to provide an education “as free as water and air” and has subsequently grown to become a renowned intellectual and cultural center for the City of New York.

Image Courtesy Iwan Baan

• Architects: Morphosis Architects
• Project: 41 Cooper Square
• Location: New York City
• Owner: The Cooper Union
• Associate Architect: Gruzen Samton, LLP
• Lighting: Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design, Inc
• Landscape Architects: Signe Nielsen
• Acoustics: Newson Brown Acoustic, LLC
• Project Contributors: Jonathan Rose Companies, LLC ; F.J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc; John A. Martin Associates, Inc.; Goldstein Associates, PLLC; IBE Consulting Engineers; Syska Hennessy Group, Inc; Steve Rosenstein Associates, Inc; Pentagram Design Abbott Miller; Auerbach Pollock Friedlander; Syska Hennessy Group, Inc; Barnes Wentworth; Langan Engineering and Environmental Services; Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers; Arup Fire; Berzak Schoen Consultants, Ltd; Van Deusen & Associates; Gordon H. Smith Corporation; Henshell & Buccellato; Atelier Ten; Synergy Engineering; Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin, Inc

Image Courtesy Iwan Baan

41 Cooper Square aspires to reflect the institution’s stated goal to create an iconic building—one that reflects its values and aspirations as a center for advanced and innovative education in Art, Architecture and Engineering. Internally, the building is conceived as a vehicle to foster collaboration and cross-disciplinary dialogue among the college’s three schools, previously housed in separate buildings.

Image Courtesy Iwan Baan

A vertical piazza—the central space for informal social, intellectual, and creative exchange—forms the heart of the new academic building. An undulating lattice envelopes a 20-foot wide grand stair which ascends four stories from the ground level through the sky-lit central atrium, which itself reaches to the full height of the building.

Image Courtesy Iwan Baan

This vertical piazza is the social heart of the building, providing a place for impromptu and planned meetings, student gatherings, lectures, and for the intellectual debate that defines the academic environment.

Image Courtesy Iwan Baan

Tags: New York City

Category: Cultural Center

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