Cooper Union by Morphosis in New York, United States

November 09, 2009 Category: Education, Public Buildings

The Cooper Union was designed by Morphosis is located in New York, United States. The honourable duty of designing the home for the next generation of artists, engineers and architects has been awarded to Thom Mayne at Morphosis when he was chosen from 150 architects competing for the Cooper Union building. Now nearing completion at 3 Avenue New York, these images appear to reveal exclusive first structure is fit for inspiration. The Cooper Union is one of the oldest U.S. higher education facilities, founded in 1859 by Peter Cooper. Now, 150 years later, the new building is designed to reflect Cooper fundamental belief that education of the highest quality must be as “free as air and water” and should be available to all beneficiaries, independent of race, religion, sex or social status. Expressing the spirit of integration and equality in physical form, the design creates an open space in which each department could merge with each other and interaction is encouraged by the design.

Designed as a stacked vertical piazza, the exterior is impacting and forced the plot, the selective permeability drawing attention to the activity inside. The vertical campus is organized around a central atrium that rises to the height of the building. This connective volume, spanned by sky bridges, opens view corridors through the Third Avenue building to the Foundation. Utilizing the latest technologies from the building face operates in a porous skin above the lobby. He is dressed in semi-transparent, openable panels perforated stainless steel that will be managed by the building manager. The operable panels can create a pattern in constant motion, providing a variety of surface on the facade, shielding the interior of the sun, providing cooling during the summer months and acting as an insulating layer during the Winter also used as a tool in achieving LEED Silver status making it the first green academic laboratory building in New York City. Within the skin, the new facility offers the Cooper Union meeting rooms, social space, an exhibition gallery, auditorium and commercial space. Photography by Wade Zimmerman.

Cooper Union by Morphosis in New York United States