The Real and the Symbolic

Composition, Index, and An Architecture of Negation

Building from the premise that the work of Adolf Loos represents a moment in architecture caught between 19th century eclecticism and 20th century modernism, the project for an archive of Nazi documents developed from a series of formal operations on what we perceived as real, imaginary, and symbolic artifacts on the Brown House site in Munich. In order to overcome Nazi rhetoric, the darkest manifestation of modernism, these operations of multiplication and repetition dislocate the symbolic value of the two Ehren Temples and disrupt the existing pre- and post-Nazi axes in the city. This re-fi guring of the urban landscape is analytic in its approach and critical in its relationship to history and contemporary architectural issues of composition and index.

[All work was produced collaboratively with Parsa Khalili, M.Arch 2009]

  • 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.