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Jon Maass

Assistant Professor Adjunct

Jon Maass is an architect, teacher, project leader and maker of things. After earning his first degree in architecture from the University of Michigan, Jon attended the Cooper Union where he was a member of the inaugural group of recipients of the Menschel Fellowship. Following work as a set designer and fabricator for off-Broadway productions in New York, Jon worked as an architect with various firms such as Anderson Architects, Leslie Gill Architect and Fox & Fowle. He also worked as a builder prior to beginning work as an owner’s representative and project manager in 2004, directing the programming, design team search, design, construction and occupancy for cultural projects in the U.S. and abroad. He founded the consultancy, MAASS in 2018, focusing solely on the conceptualization and management of major capital projects for mission-driven institutions.

Jon’s work with cultural institutions began with the Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion, SANAA’s first project in the United States, which opened in 2006. He managed the early stages of the exterior restoration of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York prior to overseeing the expansion of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, designed by Renzo Piano. After programming the new joint facility for Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art and the experimental theater group, TR Warsaw, designed by Thomas Phifer, Jon directed the design and construction of the REACH expansion at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., designed by Steven Holl. Since establishing his own firm, MAASS has managed major capital projects for the Morgan Library, Smith College’s Neilson Library, the Museum of Nebraska Art, Guild Hall of East Hampton, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Clark Art Institute, and others.

Jon has lectured and served as a guest studio critic at Columbia University, Princeton University, Pratt, and Harvard’s GSD. He is an adjunct professor at The Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architect where he teaches young architects how to navigate the complexities of the design and construction process. He is a licensed architect in New York and currently serves on his local Zoning Board of Appeals.
 
View Jon's CV here.

List of Projects:
     •  Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion: SANAA
     •  Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum exterior restoration
     •  Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
     •  Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw and TR Theater: Thomas Phifer
     •  The REACH at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: Steven Holl
     •  Morgan Library and Museum, Restoration of J. Pierpont Morgan’s library
     •  Smith College’s Neilson Library: Maya Lin
     •  The Trustees of Reservations, Piers Park 3: Michael Van Valkenberg Associates
     •  Catskill Arts Space: Bade Stageberg Cox
     •  The Museum of Nebraska Art: BVH
     •  The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Learning and Engagement Center: Gehry Partners
     •  The Clark Art Institute, Aso O. Tavitian Wing: Selldorf Architects
     •  Mordance Performing Arts and Cultural Center: Architecture Outfit
     •  Kite’s Nest, Jacklitsch/Gardner Architects

  • 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.