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A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
2021 End of Year Show
Posted: Wednesday, June 9
The occasion of the annual End of Year Show is the one moment when we come together as students, faculty, and alumni in dialogue with our larger community to celebrate the speculations of pedagogy. For two years now, we have had to imagine new ways of bringing closure to academic work completed during a pandemic, and, in turn, to share what we do with a larger audience. Last year’s virtual platform re-enacted the spatial and formal framework of the Foundation Building, if only to offer it new architectural possibilities. In turn, the opening up of New York City at the end of this past semester has allowed us to imagine other ways of projecting ourselves into the city. The western face of the Foundation Building, the colonnade, has often served this function, using its arches to frame each project within its civic scale. This year, with scaffolding stretched around the entire building, the prospect of engaging the colonnade seemed even more tenuous, and yet the scaffolding’s shelter has created unpredictable opportunities. Its shade prompted the imperative of light: with fourteen monitors, the content of this year’s work is coordinated and programmed synthetically as part of a larger urban choreography, emanating out of the colonnade and speaking to the scale of the urban space beyond.
In what will be remembered as a year entirely incarcerated by the two-dimensional space of the screen, these monitors bring to life the personal tablets of each student, now animated for the neighborhood to see, and perchance to critique. If the life of New York City has already changed in the past weeks, with masks off and the hustle of the city back in stride, we have also reckoned with the fact that many are still stuck in other countries, time zones, and far-off lands. Thus, online we get to peer into these speculations as a parallel world. And a world it has been! The charged themes that have given rise to the urgencies of this past year --some timely, though mostly belated-- have found their way into the dialogue of our studios, seminars, and thesis projects. The delayed Venice Biennale asks us “How Will We All Live Together?” The injustices that surround the murder of George Floyd and the many others that succumbed to his fate, the individual isolation experienced globally by everyone on this planet as a result of the pandemic, the climate crisis and the dim possibility of its mitigation as evident in the dormancy of global human activities, the nefarious role of technologies in dictating the truths and fictions of our times --these were just some of the themes probed at all levels in our pedagogies. We worked on schedule, in between schedules, and we worked across multiple time zones. We also worked as individuals and groups. Ultimately, we came out of this together, united in a common project focused on how architecture as a discipline may speak to the world at large, and how its forms, spaces, and materialities implicate the charged debates of our time. We have learned much this year, and some of it might yet stay with us. This exhibition and its companion website are a document of this time, and perchance the blueprint of those lessons.
Nader Tehrani
June, 2021
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ARCHLOG
2021 Venice Biennale: Microcosms and Schisms of New York City
Posted: Thursday, June 10
The School of Architecture is pleased to announce that this year’s 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the 2021 Venice Biennale, on view through November 21, features work by several of the School’s faculty and alumni. Curated by the architect and scholar Hashim Sarkis, the exhibition invites participants and exhibitors to consider the question: How will we live together? Notes Sarkis, “We need a new spatial contract. In the context of widening political divides and growing economic inequalities, we call on architects to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together.”
For the next few weeks, the School of Architecture will highlight faculty and alumni projects featured in the Biennale, beginning with Microcosms & Schisms, a project curated by Associate Dean Hayley Eber AR'01 and Architecture faculty Nora Akawi, Lydia Kallipoliti, Lauren Kogod, and Ife Vanable. With generous support from the IDC Foundation, the curators worked closely with faculty member Austin Wade Smith, fabricator Chris Otterbine, and several graduate and undergraduate students to build and install the exhibition. You may access the curatorial statement and overview of the project here.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Taryn Kosviner.
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CURRENT WORK
Toyo Ito: Rethinking Architecture from Modernism
Thursday, June 17
Zoom | 7:00PM
Ito's lecture will focus on rethinking what he describes as the "Modernist ideology" that has encouraged "the massive development of cities along with the global economic system." Noting the recent "time-out" imposed by the Covid-19 virus, he asks, "Will the society that is metropolitan-oriented change? Or will we return to where we were?"
Toyo Ito founded his Tokyo-based office in 1971. Among the firm’s main works in Japan are Sendai Mediatheque and Tama Art University Library, Hachioji Campus. His international projects include the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion (UK), Torres Porta Fira (Spain), Museo Internacional del Barroco (Mexico), and National Taiwan University, College of Social Sciences (Taiwan).
The lecture will be followed by a conversation and Q&A moderated by architect Toshiko Mori, founder of New York-based Toshiko Mori Architect, Robert P. Hubbard Professor in the Practice of Architecture at Harvard University GSD, and co-founder of VisionArc. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and recently received the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education.
This lecture has been approved to offer 1.5 AIA and New York State CEUs.
This event is co-sponsored by The Architectural League of New York and the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture.
This event is free and accessible to the public. You may register here.
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NEWS
Venice Biennale
Projects on view through November 21, 2021
Multiple projects with ties to The Cooper Union will be on view in Venice this year, either as official exhibitions of The Venice Biennale of Architecture 2021 or running concurrently to it. Projects by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture faculty include Microcosms & Schisms, a project by Associate Dean Hayley Eber AR'01 and Architecture faculty Nora Akawi, Lydia Kallipoliti, Lauren Kogod, and Ife Vanable exhibiting in the Co-Habitats section of the Biennale. Two projects by Dean Nader Tehrani’s architecture and urban design firm NADAAA, a portico and a house prototype, are also on view. David Gersten AR'91 is a featured exhibitor in the Italian Virtual Pavilion with SunShip: The Arc That Makes The Flood.
Alumni projects include Conceiving the Plan by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux AR'10, which honors the late Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Professor Diane Lewis AR'76, opening in October in the Italian Pavilion. Michael Morris AR’89’s SEArch+ / Space Exploration Architecture firm's The Lunar Lantern will be on view in the virtual Italian Pavilion. Peggy Deamer AR'77 is an exhibitor in Platform Austria, on view in the Austrian Pavilion. Jesse Reiser AR'81 and Nanako Umemoto AR'83’s firm Reiser + Umemoto is bringing two short films to the Biennale. Dorit Aviv AR'09 and fellow designer-educators from the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania present their work in the Italian Pavilion. Natalie Savva AR'13 is among the contributors to Anachoresis Upon Inhabiting Distances, on view in the Cyprus Pavilion. John Lin AR'02’s firm Rural Urban Framework presents an installation that investigates Chinese exurbs.
TimeStills by alumna Elena Fanna AR'03 is part of the 2021 ECC Architecture Biennale at the European Culture Center in Venice. Venice Masked 2021 is by alumni of all three schools and is curated by Paola Barcarolo, Frank Gerard Godlewski AR'82, Drew Knapp A'75, Margaret Matz AR'83 of Milestone Architecture PLLC, and Donato Giacalone AR'83 of Salam & Giacalone Architects PC.
Several of these projects will be featured in greater detail in our ARCHLOG in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
Image Credit: Project by NADAAA, photo courtesy of Roland Halbe.
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SUMMER PROGRAM
Introduction to Architecture Online
Last Reminder: Enroll by Monday, June 14
In light of the spread of COVID-10 in New York City, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union announces our upcoming summer intensive program that features a virtual curriculum accessible to high school and college students worldwide. As an institution that is committed to the pursuit of excellence and learning, we view our current circumstances as an opportunity to advance our thinking through radical experimentation between various forms of online engagement, digital interface, virtual modeling and representation techniques. The pleasure of making and experimentation are fundamental to our discovery of architecture and the innovation of the discipline, as well as a deeply thoughtful form of social and cultural dialogue where the imaginary becomes possible.
Applications are currently open and all potential students are encouraged to apply early.
You may watch our public Live Information Session to get an overview of the program's curriculum, pedagogy, and focus for this year. The video features examples of former participants' work and presentations by faculty and staff.
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VIDEO ARCHIVE
Watch Our Public Lectures and Events Anytime
Vimeo | On Demand
The School of Architecture records, archives and publishes videos of public programs to open access and accommodate asynchronous learning and research for audiences in different time zones. You may visit our Vimeo channel for access to all our video content.
You may also use Cooper website's search bar to look for a particular lecture title or a lecturer's name to find embedded videos of their events with us, if any are available, along with other pertinent event and bio information.
If you recently missed a lecture or event you wanted to see, make sure to check out the Fall 2020 and the Spring 2021 Lecture and Events Lists. Links to earlier semester event lists are found at the bottom of their respective event pages.
Our public programs are free and recorded for access anytime.
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ANNOUNCEMENT
Coronavirus Response
For campus-wide COVID-19 updates and resources, please visit The Cooper Union's website.
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Elisa Iturbe, Arch fac | Grantee | "Graham Foundation Announces 2021 Grants to Individuals," GRAHAM FOUNDATION, May 26, 2021
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Farzin Lotfi-Jam, Arch fac | Grantee | "Graham Foundation Announces 2021 Grants to Individuals," GRAHAM FOUNDATION, May 26, 2021
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Toshiko Mori AR ’76 | Article | "A Less Dingy, Less Raccoon-Infested Brooklyn Public Library," THE NEW YORKER, May 31, 2021
Annisia Cialone AR ’98 | Closing Remarks | The Jersey City Summit, June 15-17, 2021, virtual
Andrew Soluri AR ’98 | Chapter Speaker | BNI–Manhattan 15, Gotham Givers Gain, June 8, 2021, Zoom
John Lin AR ’02 | Grantee | "Graham Foundation Announces 2021 Grants to Individuals," GRAHAM FOUNDATION, May 26, 2021
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SITU Research (Basar Girit, Aleksey Lukyanov-Cherny, Brad Samuels, all AR ’05) | Article | "Ambushed by the Cops: When Police Deliberately Trap Peaceful Protesters," THE INTERCEPT, June 2, 2021
David Huber AR’10 | Grantee | "Graham Foundation Announces 2021 Grants to Individuals," GRAHAM FOUNDATION, May 26, 2021
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Open Calls & Opportunities |
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NEW
CALL FOR ENTRIES
CALL FOR ENTRIES
DEADLINES APPROACHING
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals encourages student journalism on architecture, planning, and related subjects, and to foster regard for intelligent criticism among future professionals. Deadline: June 15
CALL FOR ENTRIES
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
PURE DESIGN CONTEST challenges participants to design a piece of furniture and/or set of furniture for children. Deadline: June 20
CALL FOR ENTRIES
AIANY Marketing Excellence Awards recognize exceptional efforts by New York City-based professionals in the fields of marketing, communications, and public relations for architecture, engineering, and construction firms. Deadline: June 23
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Recipe for a Room: Places of Learning is a model-making contest about building spatial, sculptural, miniature rooms while fostering fun, creativity and professional mentorship. Deadline: July 2
ONGOING
CALL FOR PAPERS
STUDENT COMPETITION
Into the Wild: Manhattan Wildscraper aims to approach the element of nature from different perspectives to discover new synergies between human and natural ecosystems. Cooper Union students are eligible for a discount to join this competition by using the code "SOUR30". Deadline: July 15
CALL FOR APPLICANTS
The PAVE Scholarship Program provides financial assistance to 3rd or 4th year students in educational programs preparing them for careers in the retail environments industry, including but no limited to retail design, visual merchandising, interior design, architecture, and industrial design. Deadline: July 18
STUDENT AWARD COMPETITION
SARA 2021 National Design Awards has opened and invites students and professionals to submit projects for consideration in this year’s awards program. Deadline: August 1
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CALL FOR ENTRIES
Housing Design Awards invites submissions of projects with more than four units - including new construction or rehabilitation of private-sector or public-sector projects from anywhere in the world. Deadline: August 13
CALL FOR APPLICANTS
SOM: YEAR ONE is a program that cultivates the next generation of design leaders with a unique program to jumpstart your career in architecture, engineering, urban planning, or interior design. Rolling Deadline: April 1 - August 15
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
Global Design Graduate Show 2021 invites recent graduates in the creative fields, including architecture and art, to submit their thesis projects for an online showcase. Deadline: August 25
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
CALL FOR PAPERS
FREE GROCERIES
The College Student Pantry welcomes all college students in need of groceries. Founded in September 2020, we are open first and third Wednesdays from 3-5pm. Stop by 602 E 9th St in the East Village (corner of Ave B) for a free bag of groceries. Ongoing: 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 3PM.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Harvard Design Press seeks book proposals from researchers, practitioners, theorists, historians, and critics, among others. Deadline: Rolling
CALL FOR SUPPORT
Mophradat: Support the Arts in Beirut Prioritizing those already disadvantaged, and those who influence the community around them in a thoughtful manner, Mophradat offers resources to artists, visual thinkers and architects. Deadline: Rolling
CALL FOR ALLIES
CALL FOR STUDENT PROPOSALS
Write for Urban Omnibus! Shaped by a wide range of contributors In an effort to advance the collective work of city making, Urban Omnibus calls for students and professionals to submit article proposals. Deadline: Ongoing
CALL FOR APPLICANTS
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