CLASS NOTES

Columbia University's New Business School

Elizabeth Diller AR'79 and Ricardo Scofidio AR'55's firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro designed Columbia University’s new Columbia Business School. Oskar Arnorsson AR'08 and Emily Vo Nguyen AR'11 also contributed to the project. For more information click here, here and here.

Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in the Construction of Civic Space

An April exhibition at Cooper's School of Architecture "Conceiving the Plan: Nuance and Intimacy in the Construction of Civic Space" inaugurates a dialogue with the legacy of the late architect and longtime Cooper Professor Diane Lewis AR'76. The exhibition was conceived by Yael Hameiri Sainsaux AR'10, and contributors and advisors include Matthew Hitscherich AR'12 and David Huber AR'10. An accompanying symposium was held in April, and symposium participants include Elena Fanna AR'03, Peter Lynch AR'84, Laila Seewang AR'05, Uri Wegman AR'08, Sotirios Kotoulas AR'03, Mersiha Veledar AR'03, Holger Kleine AR'90 and Anna Kostreva AR'09.

Jesse Reiser AR'81 & Nanako Umemoto AR'83

An April exhibition at Cooper's School of Architecture "Lyrical Urbanism: The Taipei Music Center" celebrates and communicates the vibrant energy and intensity of the recently completed Taipei Music Center that was designed by architects and Cooper alumni Jesse Reiser AR'81 and Nanako Umemoto AR'83 of Reiser+Umemoto, RUR Architecture. An accompanying program of music and discussion was held in April.

Peter Katz A'76

A March exhibition at Cooper presents a series of Ezra Stoller photographs generously donated to the School of Architecture in 2020 by Peter Katz A'76. An accompanying reception was held in March. For more information, click here and here.

  • 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.