Proportional-Time Faculty

James Lowder earned his B. Arch from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-Arc) and his M.Arch from Princeton University. As a practicing architect, Lowder has worked as a designer in offices and studios internationally, including Coop Himmelb(l)au, Studio Daniel Libeskind and Reiser + Umemoto. He is currently working on numerous projects in the United States and South America, including a residence in St. Simons Island, Georgia and a housing project in La Paz, Bolivia. His work has been shown in galleries and exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, and Sydney.  In addition to teaching design studio and representation courses at the Cooper Union, Lowder has taught at Sci-Arc and the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he was the 2008-2009 John and Magda McHale Fellow.

View James Lowder's full CV here.

Portrait

Benjamin Aranda is a teacher, practitioner, and researcher of experimental design and architecture. He was recently named the inaugural IDC Foundation Distinguished Professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union, in recognition of his commitment to advancing interdisciplinary learning across the schools of Art, Architecture, and Engineering. At Cooper Union, he has taught undergraduate and graduate design studios as well as interdisciplinary seminars.

Since 2018, Benjamin has co-taught Generative Algorithms and Machine Learning for Art and Architecture—nicknamed “GenML”—alongside electrical engineering professor Sam Keene, the John and Mary Manuck Distinguished Professor of Design. The course explores the intersections of computation, creativity, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Benjamin is also a principal at Aranda\Lasch, an architecture and design studio based in New York and Tucson. Their wide-ranging work—from generative software to physical architecture—reflects a critical engagement with making in an age of algorithmic tools, invoking long-standing histories and cultural traditions. Their work is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, among others, and has been exhibited internationally across a range of institutions and galleries. Recognition includes the United States Artists Award, the Architectural League’s Emerging Voices Award, the Miller Prize, and support from the Graham Foundation.


 

  • 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.