The Cooper Union | CMU Architecture Class of 2014

CMU Architecture Class of 2014

The Cooper Union

Due to high security there we each had to sneak into the building in order to really see and understand the interior.  It was a daring tale of deception, romance, and cunning.  The Cooper Union New Academic Building is a beautiful building by

Thom Mayne

. There is a central shaft running from top to bottom in the building that connects spaces and wraps them in a mesh-like white net.  Natural light is filtered in through skylights and floor to ceiling windows.  Stairwells criss cross the central shaft, connecting different levels in different directions, lending a Hogwarts style mysticism.  In some places, the stair case stops.  For example there is no central stair case between the 8th and 7th floors.  While the spaces are strongly connected visually there was a sense of confusion and frustration when no staircase was present.  There remained only the central shaft, sculpted by mesh-like net.

The exterior of the building is broken in places, revealing glass beneath.  The placement and orientation of panels on the exterior seem to have been decided on the construction site, which poses questions about all the different ways that it could be.  Overall the building impressed us with a sense of careful rigor and a strong sense of connection between spaces.

[Posted by Sage Altenhofen, Anna Bieberdorf, Elijah Hughes, Erica Lazrus, Jolita Mo, Max Park, Lee Yan Shun, Monica Tong, Eugene Wong, Yifan Xu]