Lessons from Modernism Exhibition

Lessons From Modernism:  Environmental design Considerations in Twentieth Century Architecture, 1925-1970

Lessons From Modernism, an exhibition at Cooper Union’s Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery from January 29 – March 23, 2013, examines selected works of architecture completed between 1925–70 through the lens of sustainability, analyzing the use of environmental strategies—long before they were commonly used in 21st Century buildings. Through an analysis of the influence of nature and the environment in architectural design, Lessons From Modernism provides new insights into works achieved by a diverse selection of architects, including Le Corbusier, Paul Rudolph, Jean Prouvé and Oscar Niemeyer. The exhibition demonstrates how these architects integrated environmental concerns into their designs and explores the extent to which these practices have produced environmentally performative and distinctive architecture. The 25 examples shown in the exhibition were extensively researched and documented by a team of Cooper Union students, faculty and alumni. These buildings demonstrate the importance of the aesthetic of clarity and utility that characterizes 20th Century modern architecture. This aesthetic, or really, these values, inform the contemporary green building movement today.

  • 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.