Diana Agrest: The Making of an Avant-Garde

Thu, Nov 16, 2017 6pm - Sun, Dec 3, 2017 6pm

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The exhibition accompanies the eponymous film written, produced and directed by Diana Agrest. 

"The Making of an Avant-Garde: The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies 1967-1984" exhibits documents contextualizing the founding and influence of the Institute through photographs, press, and journal clippings from some of the most renowned architects of today.  Composed using Prof. Agrest's own archival materials, the exhibition establishes a rich and abundant portrayal of the period, the Institute's leaders, critical themes and compelling stories chronicling the formation of the Institute as fertile ground for the making of an avant-garde. 

The film premiered at The Museum of Modern Art in New York in June 2013.

This event is open to current students, faculty, and staff. 

Located at 7 East 7th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues

  • 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.