[UNDER]Groundscraper

This slideshow is part of: Master of Architecture II Thesis 2010

[UNDER]Groundscraper: The Natural Revisiting New York City

Fan-Chien Tseng

Architecture developed through time in a conflictive opposition between subject and object, between nature and culture, adapting and transforming while incorporating nature into its discourse.

At this point this opposition has weakened since the boundaries between the natural and the artificial have become blurred. Nature has been tamed by society and replaced by culture in an interplay between natural forces and those of control.

This thesis explores how natural and artificial conditions interact in the configuration of the urban fabric, and examines the potential of an alternative mode of reification of the relationship between nature / culture in architectural discourse.
 

  • 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.