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Daniel Meridor

Visiting Professor

Daniel Meridor is an Assistant Professor Adjunct at the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union, currently teaching in the Masters Program M.ArchII. He has been serving as an invited juror at TAU, Cooper Union, NYIT, and Pratt Institute, in addition to having outlined and lectured the seminar “Space, Territory, Space” at the BAU Institute. Daniel studied architecture at Tel Aviv University, Israel, VIU, Venice, Italy and The Cooper Union, New York where he received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Architecture, History Theory and Urbanism.

His approach to architecture comes from a questioning of edges as potential spaces to be challenged. In his work, he searches for ways to distort perceived boundaries and formulate new potentials for malleable delineations, both physical and virtual. In 2005 Daniel won the the Benjamin Menschel Fellowship, awarding him with recognition for his research, and allowing him to go independently to live in and study the mentality and patterns of nomadic living in the desert. The result was a proposal for alternative dwellings that respond to a non-static perception of attachment to the land. In the pursuit of realizing this project, he participated in local government negotiations, presented the issue in several forums both in Israel and the US, and showcased it in an exhibition called “Centrifugal Tendencies” in Cooper Union, in the AIA Center for architecture New York, and in the AIANYS convention. For this project he won the Irma Giustino Weiss prize for demonstrating an exceptional potential for creative achievement.

In addition, Daniel was given the American Institute of Architects, Henry Adams Medal and Certificate of Merit for his achievements at Cooper Union, The Cooper Union Alumni Association Award, for Service and Leadership, and was the recipient of a grant to live and study in Venice Italy based on his interest in Islamic influences on architecture in Venice.

Daniel worked in the office of Diane Lewis architect in New York before becoming a sole practitioner at StudioDMeridor+, where he has been working on several projects in the US. In order to expand the working field of his architectural endeavors, he has produced drawings montages and writings which have been exhibited and published, and has teamed up with artists to work on projects of different scales: from designing coats, a portal or an exhibition pavilion. He was interviewed for Metropolis Magazine, Yedioth Ahronot America and the Architects Newspaper and has participated in various competitions, on his own and as a collaborator, continuously applying and testing his theories.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.