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AN MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
March 30 Covid-19 Update
Monday, March 30
Dear Members of the Faculty and Student Body:
I wanted to communicate with you now, after the productive discussions in the all-faculty and all-student meetings, to share a few sentiments.
First and foremost, I want to thank you all for your attendance in these meetings. As physical proximity becomes more impossible, your virtual voice becomes all the more important. In the faculty meeting, I heard certain voices that are usually more reserved, and with an eloquence and generosity only befitting of this very moment we are all experiencing. I thank the faculty for their patience, thoughtfulness, and flexibility to take on critical positions that have vast implications on questions of ethics, care, community and learning that are so important at this time. Your ability to frame ‘what is important’ in our current predicament have been illuminating, and have offered us a vision of how to craft a path that is not only generous to the students, but also deliberate in identifying exceptions to the principles for which we stand.
Secondly, I thank the students, who in their capacity as members of varied committees, and as a total body have shown even more patience as we have navigated through a fortnight filled with uncertainty, with many of you relocating across multiple time zones. You have been articulate in your agency, clear in your requests, and well-framed in all arguments. With many uncertainties yet ahead, I hope that we may do justice to your requests, both individual and collective. In speaking with President Sparks, I am aware that your discussions with her have been productive, and that several issues stand to be worked out as we better understand the timing of when the buildings can reopen. The important thing is that we work these things out together, in dialogue. As we collaborate to address our weekly challenges, I want to remind you that the faculty are engaged in the very same process as you are. This is an entirely new phenomenon for them too, and they are committed to working hard and being creative to make sure that they engage you in a compelling remainder of the semester. I hope we can all acknowledge that and support our faculty as they work hard to support us.
Thirdly, speaking to the actual content of these meetings, I am in support of the suggested all-pass policy, if only that it affords all of us the trust and space to prioritize health and safety, while maintaining focus on the pressing academic issues of the moment -- good communication, critical pedagogies, experimentation and exploration: all of this, in the space of new media, some of which does not readily accept the fluency with which we have come to explore form, space and materials. In turn, we will be working closely with all students on externalities that help them in job searches, graduate and fellowship applications, and their general interface with the world. Again, while I acknowledge that the all-pass policy may not fit every class, I am also determined to work with the Thesis students to address their varied needs.
Finally, let me reiterate that this is still just a beginning. Studios and classes are all set to be launched today. We have much to learn from this process, a lot to tweak and equally so much to communicate as we discover possibilities from which everyone else might benefit. Let us begin that process together now.
From a personal perspective, I want to communicate a special thanks to the students for the warmth of their sentiments in the student meeting. It means a lot to me, and I think I speak for the entire faculty when I say that we are proud to be in the hands of such a student body!
Best,
Nader
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TRIBUTE FROM THE DEAN
Michael Sorkin, 1948-2020
Monday, March 30
A tribute to Michael Sorkin requires words, the very instruments he crafted with meticulous discipline and mischievous delight—alas, something none of us can do justice to with any measure of parity.
I followed Sorkin’s thinking from his early days at The Village Voice, where he served as its architectural critic, the very same years he taught at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union. I was still a student at the time, but his articles were an event to which we all looked forward, each taking on the canons and conventions of the discipline. For a decade, from 1983 to 1993, he taught alongside all the classic thinkers who we know to be The Cooper Union—among them Diana Agrest, Raimund Abraham, Diane Lewis, Anthony Candido, Richard Henderson, Michael Webb, Ricardo Scofidio and of course the dean, John Hejduk. While he taught in the second and fourth year studios, as well as Thesis, he was already beginning to build his intellectual arsenal around the theme of urbanism, the very topic that launched his first semester at our school—a seminar on Town Planning. His focus on the environment, sustainability, the politics of public space and urban culture, as well as his critique of modernist urban planning became the cornerstone of his efforts to come—both in teaching and his practice, Terreform and Michael Sorkin Studio.
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REMOTE LECTURE
Josep Ferrando: Inhabited Infrastructures
Tuesday, April 7
Livestream/Zoom | 6:30PM
Josep Ferrando is an architect from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB), founding partner of Josep Ferrando Architecture and Dean of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura La Salle Barcelona (ETSALS). He combines the profession, teaching and cultural management from the beginning of his career.
His work has been exhibited internationally and he has published a monographs of his work at the Biennale di Architettura di Venezia 2014, the prestigious Architekturforum Aedes gallery in Berlin and the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro. He has lectured at the Harvard GSD, Cornell University, the Catholic University of Chile, the IUAV of Venice, the HCU of Hamburg, the Facoltà di Architettura of Palermo, among others; and received international recognition, being the winner of the FAD awards, the first prize at the International Architecture Biennial of Buenos Aires BIABA’15 and finalist of the Iakov Chernikov International Award.
This event is open to the public via Livestream and Zoom. See webpage announcement for links.
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REMOTE LECTURE
Electric Mud: Presentation of the Surreal Visions of Hernan Diaz Alonso/HDA-X
Wednesday, April 9
Livestream/Zoom | 6:30PM
In parallel to his role at SCI-Arc, Diaz Alonso is principal of the Los Angeles–based architecture office HDA-x (formerly Xefirotarch). His multidisciplinary practice is praised for its work at the intersection of design, animation, interactive environments, and radical architectural explorations. Over the course of his career as an architect and educator, Diaz Alonso has earned accolades for his leadership and innovation, as well as his ability to build partnerships among varied constituencies. In 2005 he was the winner of MoMA PS1’s Young Architects Program (YAP) competition, and in 2012 he received the Educator of the Year award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He won the 2013 AR+D Award for Emerging Architecture and a 2013 Progressive Architecture Award for his design of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Pavilion/Museum in Patagonia, Argentina.
This event is open to the public via Livestream and Zoom. See webpage announcement for links.
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FEATURE
School of Architecture Moves Lecture Series Online
Wednesday, March 18
Although students were still on spring break, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture had already taken steps to ensure that students’ educations continue uninterrupted during the upcoming weeks of virtual learning. Below Dean Nader Tehrani and Assistant Professor Lorena del Rio weigh in on the ways that online resources can provide expanded opportunities. A case in point is
the lecture given by the architect Jan de Vylder on March 18
. Although he was scheduled to speak at Cooper later this semester, he instead spoke to an expanded audience through an online lecture at Cornell. Similar events are forthcoming thanks to the efforts of faculty and staff working in concert with other schools of architecture to continue to foster rigorous content and discussion during this unprecedented event.
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ARCHLOG
Erieta Attali: Windows Into the Empty Streets of Paris
Posted Monday, March 23
School of Architecture faculty member and photographer
Erieta Attali
has found a new way to read the city of Paris, almost entirely without its residents. Using the camera on her phone, Attali has captured the architecture of this great city through daytime and nighttime documentation, producing images that are both hauntingly beautiful and emblematic of the current global COVID-19 pandemic. This body of work illustrates how we can continue to harness our creative talents and carry on with our work at a time of great uncertainty. To view Attali’s photographs, visit ArchDaily’s coverage of her work
here
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ANNOUNCEMENT
COVID-19 Updates
For campus-wide COVID-19 updates, please visit The Cooper Union's
website.
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RICA* Studio (principals Lorena del Rio, Iñaqui Carnicero, both Arch fac)
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Article
| “Canter Domus,” GA HOUSES 169 PROJECT 2020
Lydia Kallipoliti, Arch fac
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Jury Member
| Pandemic Architecture: International Ideas Competition, Archisearch.gr, Launched March 16, 2020 |
Award
| BUILD Magazine's Design and Build Awards, Award for Innovation in Sustainable Design Solutions
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AZ Studio (Guido Zuliani, Arch fac, principal)
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Article
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“
Non-aligned Architecture,” ABITARE 592
Tamar Zinguer, AR ’89/Arch fac
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Lecture
| Sandbox: Land Art before Land Art, University of Massachusetts Amherst, March 25, 2020, Amherst, MA
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Leslie Gill, AR ’82
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Article
| “Striking Brooklyn Heights carriage house with modern touches wants $5.45M,” CURBED.COM, March 11, 2020
Shigeru Ban, AR ’84
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Article
| “University of Arkansas selects six finalists for new Anthony Timberlands Center,” THE ARCHITECTS’ NEWSPAPER, March 23, 2020
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Sam Omans, AR ’08
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Research Assistant
| “Building a New New World, Americanizm in Russian Architecture,” exhibition, Canadian Centre for Architecture, November 13, 2019-April 5, 2020, Montreal, Canada
Danny Wills, AR ’12
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Review
| “Review: Fulfilled,” JAE, March 6, 2020
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Open Calls & Opportunities
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NEW
OPEN HOUSE LECTURE
IDEAS COMPETITION
DISTANCE LEARNING DISCUSSIONS
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Cophenhagen Architecture Festival
wants to focus on how the character and meaning of home have changed in the midst of a global health crisis. Observations, visions, and considerations on the impact of the Corona-crisis on the built environment are welcome, please submit a photo on instagram. Deadline: April 23
DEADLINES APPROACHING
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
DESIGN COMPETITION
CALL FOR PROJECTS
Helsinki Design Week 2020
curator Margriet Vollenberg invites international creatives to submit their works for the main exhibition of the Helsinki Design Week. Deadline: April 6
DESIGN COMPETITION
Legendary Bird Home 2020
tasks participants to present innovative designs for a bird house that can be built at home using sustainable materials and methods. Registration Deadline: April 14
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Marion Mahony Emerging Practitioner Fellowship
MIT Department of Architecture invites applications for the Marion Mahony Emerging Practitioner Fellowship for the academic year beginning in September 2020. This is a full time one-year appointment. Deadline: April 15
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ONGOING
COVID-19 RESOURCE KIT
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The 2020 Deborah J. Norden Fund
, a program of The Architectural League of New York, awards up to $5,000 annually in travel grants to students and recent graduates in the fields of architecture, architectural history, and urban studies. Deadline: April 19
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
AIANY Civic Leadership Program
develops a class of emerging architectural professionals into civic leaders by refining the critical skills that design professionals need to better represent people that they serve. Deadline: April 29
STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION
NYCxDesign: Product Design Category
Invites students to submit eligible designs for accessories, architectural products, fabric, furniture, kitchen and bath, lighting and wall covering. Deadline: May 11
DESIGN COMPETITION
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Dezeen Awards 2020
welcomes entries for its third edition of international awards. Eight new categories have been introduced this year including landscape project, infrastructure project, bar interior, restaurant interior, large retail interior, small retail interior, architectural lighting design and exhibition design. Deadline: June 9
CALL FOR PAPERS
DESIGN AWARDS
The SARAs 2020
celebrate design excellence in architecture and design through an annual Awards Program which attracts entries from individuals, firms, and students from around the world. Deadline: July 15
CALL FOR ENTRIES
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