The new building of Cooper Union
The new building of Cooper Union
1. Summary
Cooper Union is one of the oldest higher education facilities in the United States, founded by Peter Cooper in 1859, now it has been 150 years. The new building is designed to reflect the core value of Cooper Union: the highest level of education should be as free as the water and air, enjoyed by all of quality people as well as the independence races, religion, gender and the social status. This new building just right embodies this integrated spirit and the form of the equality and reality. The excellent design created a space for development that each department can be the next merger, and this mutual effect was also encouraged in the process of design. (MC Leaf, FP Mohrmann, 1974)
Key words: Morphosis, design, architects, LEED, technology
2. Introduction
In the landscape of the East village in Manhattan, the new building of Cooper Union was located in 41 Cooper Square, which should belong to the heterogeneous. However, this kind of work comes from Morphosis Architects that led by Thom Mayne is really rational. All kinds of elements of the building exude a kind of rigid temperament, such as clear corners, sharp wrinkles and the perforated metal. This perception is very easy to let people remind of Lucia Fontana’s work what was famous for the art of cutting canvas-----series of Spatial http://www.ukthesis.org/Thesis_Writing/ Concept. Fontana takes great pains to cut the canvas make him a sculptor, not a painter. In the “Spatial Concept” series of Fontana, there is a work called “expectation”, the original meaning is to expect to get a space of imagination by normal canvas. But Fontana’s design has precisely destructed the so-called “Sculpture”, so does the fictional space, which integrated it with the real environment that the audiences are in, coincidentally. (E Lupton, JA Miller, 1999)The incision in 41Cooper Square cannot help but produce the same “expectation” to let people image the world after the incision.
3. Specific reference to the new building
The construction of the new Cooper Union Academic Building is not only transparency but also hidden. It was divided into laboratories, offices and workshops which can provide work space, and also, with leaving a lot of empty room. It consist of standard components, sometimes it often surprises us. All in all, it has duality of character. Perhaps this is the charming of it. Or maybe these contradictions are that they over-emphasize construction of public space and the side effects. With such an urban area of 16500 square meters among the Manhattan buildings. (CA Deavours, 1973) Thom•Mayne and Morphosis Architects need to reconsider how we can treat on the public social spaces and private work space layer the problem in the modern times.
The cooper institution of higher science and art union academic is the only one in the American educational history. It was established in1859 by philanthropist Peter Cooper. Cooper himself didn’t have a chance to go to college, but he set up the school for its 1000 works of art and architecture students to provide full scholarships.#p#分页标题#e#
4. The design idea of the new building
If the obligation of school is to provide public services, then the long history main building and hall is a scared landmark of local public buildings. They are located on the south 6 blocks in the Cooper Square. His new Renaissance style sandstone structures reveal their own history. In the construction of that time, learning is also occurred on the classroom and studio. Today, as Mayne points out, the learning environment of students have expand to the coffee bar, home, or whatever where they can use their personal computer. So after the Los Angeles architectural agency Morphosis got the item in the 2004. Their work not only to make up for 3700 square meters of teaching building from 3 down to 2. They all face the challenge about contemporary architects, that is, how to create a worthy visit place. In this case, making a place where students want to stay after school, the Moyne’s answer is that to carve a tall hall in the building of heart zone. (C Mitchell, 2010) He hopes that under the design of “Vertical Square” the corridors, fallow lands, meeting rooms and the balconies bring the unexpectedly meeting and occasional encounter chance to the students. Impel them do something from their own ideas, without mobile phones and Face book can be achieved through the interaction.
This mission through some facilities on the mandatory implementation features, such as stop only at the fourth and seventh floor. Therefore, most students and teachers have to go up or go down some stairs before reaching the destination. By this way, they have more opportunities to “say hello” with colleagues and students. Like this, to arrange more communication with each other in such a big space of circulation. It’s not a fresh phenomenon in museums and performing arts venue. On the contrary, it has a long history. Moyne always support the free flow of social mixing space. Most of his companies projects, from California Department of Transportation Headquarters Building (2004) to be completed on campus in Shanghai Giant Group, have reflected this plan. (RD Building, 2005)
5. The internal structure of the new building
5.1 The important public space: 9-steps public courts
To observe the building of Cooper Union Academic carefully, and explore the internal structure, then they need to know something, public space is its lifeline, the construct materials will bring joys have no limits. In such an era, reality world and digital space, machinery and man-made objects, collective and personal communication, the boundaries between them are begun to blur. While this building advanced a new grade divide between public and private space to allow the institution quickly meet the modern students for informal social needs. From the response of citizens, the most controversial parts of the projects on the stainless steel mesh packing. At first, it total looks like analysis diagram abstract by Hugh Fries, with no scale like glaciers. About 25% of the panel can automatically open and let the sunshine into the room. However, as the 2005 Pretzel Prize winner said, except saving energy, all the seemingly monotonous armor make us choose more specific what we want to communicate.#p#分页标题#e#
Although, laboratories and offices are mixed with outdoor, almost impossible to distinguish (except through the grid to see the light outside the window) but an elevator in the west draw a contours of the 9 steps in the public court. At the lower floor, the thin armor was propped around, exposing the inside of the hall. The public art gallery, activity space, and retail store. “Many people just see the differences between them” said the exterior designer Maine. “I think this is a special place which can closely link to the essence.” He explain that establishment of the west elevator was inspired by the vitality of the New York and the vibrant growth of the Cooper Square trees. In addition, the height of new buildings and the old buildings were closer (41meters) and face to street towards the entrance. Building interior, the ground is a simple concrete; the ceiling is modular wall systems, and make the same style with exterior decoration. But can regulate the temperature and nimble enough, it’s easy to repair and transform. Overall, it’s the example to show functional simplicity doctrine on laboratories and workshops. In contrast, put the function in public places or at least the basic functions of the agency—throw it happily.
5.2 Overlapping materials
Many different kinds of uncovered materials and strange geometric patterns seem to overlap staggered according to their own means. Maine called that “sell the power of author, just like emphasize the result of the process” like Jackson Pollack painting as. There are varieties of objects, precast panels, circle scaffolding, perforated composite ceiling, towering walls of water, titled glass panels, the handrails, all of which put together like a strange combination of non-Euclidean algorithm. At the day time, the sunlight pouring to the balcony, stairs, http://www.ukthesis.org/Thesis_Writing/ lobby, and skylight for the people. In the air, a distorted lattice planes in the atrium circle around and build a huge bone. The composition of the tubes, outer shell wrapped GFRG, by computer modeling of the “super grid” is a device made by hands for one year. It is the perfect with high-tech and hand skill. They can moved, no effect, but funny. Under the background of building pragmatism, these fantastic ideas additional features may lead the form and new debate among the students. In addition, at least they succeeded at first. They bring dramatic interest to the public space.
6. The external structure of the new building
This building is made up of three buildings, originally belonged to different composition of university departments. This item pays attention to the informal public space, as to these spaces to exchange ideas and debates to be possible. Therefore, this region style, follow the architects called “vertical square.” People can get in from bottom, then rise to the Level4, you can reach a two-floor student dining room at last. From there, you can see the whole landscape of the city. From fifth floor to the ninth floor, there are many balconies, study rooms, storage space. They are around the middle of an open space and building. To emphasize the informality of space, the elevator setting use the jump-stand principle, not all the floors are suspended. Outside the building using two perforated steel to make the most efficient use of energy (the building with LEED gold certification), and allows outsiders to see the activities inside. Now, the modern city usually is treated as a theater of daily life. Here, internal and external, the boundary between public and private became blurred.#p#分页标题#e#
Be thought of as a beautiful vertical square, attack external and change the design to be complex. Use selective transparence to attract the range of activities. The vertical campus is organized arranged in a central gateway, and make the vision of building to be increase its height. The bridge connecting the lobby was expanded and opened up a corridor vision; the main building is using the latest surface technology through the third avenue. This construction operates upon the porch surface. It can be overwritten in a translucent, open through a stainless steel panel by the manager of this building. The running panel will create a long activity situation; provide the diversity of the surface. Protect internal structure from the sunshine. Provide a cooling function in summer, and turn warmer in winter. This new facility provides a small room of Cooper Union, social space, an exhibition corridor, a hall and a shopping mall.
7. The formation of the new building
Review the design of Morphosis is a funny progress. The building produces always through draft, physical models and computer models. The earliest sketches vaguely by Tom Moyne expressed the relationship between building façade and external structure---the dubious form in the incision. Incision in the architectural model being most heterogeneous but the shaped atrium inside the building is the most eye-catching part. Since the Cooper Union was set up in 19th. The “equality” is the most distinctive ideas of college. The new teaching building is osmosis the special understanding of all the designers. No.41 Cooper Square is instead of the old teaching building. It includes engineering, architecture, art and facilities in different disciplines. Then the blend between the various disciplines, the design theme became the interaction between students. There is a fluctuating in this court from the buildings well formed, the liner permutation of the teaching buildings and office buildings all over the screen. An undulate net includes 6cm wide stairs，across extends from the bottom to the fourth floor, from fifth to ninth are the split—stairs and platform bridges，grid will also slowly and gradually evolved into narrow-line roof skylight. The new teaching building core appear vividly with the meander atrium---a vertical campus, chat, discussion, lunch, rest, everything is possible.
The landscape is not enough, the students resting room across the atrium, seminar room, changing rooms and other informal social space, the atrium in the space shuttle's bridge to connect them. After entering into this space, cut through the building facade of the New York, to seize the fragments again and again. Looking out from the inside surface. Coincided with the Cooper Institute Foundation Building—a different classical building which coordinate with each other. Thus, the construction itself gets the definition from the city. Inspired by the unique conditions in turn defines the urban form. From the city environment to the inside building, then back to the city after some traveling. Whether the No.41 Cooper Square incision like Fontana expects who makes spectators between satisfied and reconstruction? Because of its existence is to cut inside and outside the world together?#p#分页标题#e#
Looking at the earliest works of size and shape design by Morphosis, there are far from the present work, however, the message function exists everywhere. The construct agency build up as California Santa Mania, Los Angeles metropolitan area urban environment naturally become the practice of Morphosis. Despite the different practice environment, capture funny from this environment and expand to the building of the Sits has been a concern of Mozambique where the negative. In their first project “2-4-6-8 house”. The construction cognition intercepts the community of Los Angeles Venice Beach according to around the zoom window, whether construction screen or the street is full of dramatic. Window deformation and rotation of the track make the building go into the daily life from another dimension infiltration.
In “2-4-6-8 house”，in order to cater the changing of windows, the architects retain the feeling of rotation, layered sensitively, even compile a technical manual to guide the owner. Let them to build the house by them. The generative logic of construction retained maximum, refined to the extension of the cross hanging in the window frames. Architects use a three- dimensional method to control this building that the area is less than 100m2. They repeatedly re-established the logic of construction, which later became the successful and unique drawing style of Morphosis. When the architects’ intention, perspective, and strategy finally combined with the outcome of the building, these drawings will be the best that designed by a rear perspective. Communication of such information depends largely on firm’s surface, elevation and drawing method, it became a tool that architects overall control and refines the unique means of building. In this sense, drawing is more than its intermediary effect; moreover, it recorded an inquiry process.
If we go back our sight to 2009, some would say that Morphosis’ work such as 41 Cooper Square is a passage of time compared with “2-4-6-8” house, what can really be said as the drawing is a few sheets of sketches, a more obvious change is that the use of computer technology for architects to direct operation of geometry is possible. Compared with the previous drawing, it is replaced by a large number of computer models. However, Morphosis retained its usual way of thinking; they think that really affect the building process is the consideration of its own function and their circumstances. The new building of the Cooper Union was full-height atrium that can enables unique circulation for building occupants, improve the flow of air and provides increased interior day lighting. (TA Jones, 1991)
The design of the atrium building begins the limits to strict volume. After figuring out the maximum volume, architects cut the volume by functional space, skylights, stairs and other abstract surface. This way have just inter-crossed the collection and give us a perfect feeling, meanwhile, it also accessed the atrium of the initial shape. By sprayed into the physical model, they can study the whole external relations. Similarly, the elevation effect is obtained based on the geometric operations: circle cutting, hyperbolic, and folded by the basic form of the façade.#p#分页标题#e#
Just like drafting, the computer plays a role of instrument or media, which boost transforming the building from abstract to concrete. While the objectives the Thom Moyne offices endeavor to fulfill is to control the generation of architecture form, just deviate the way computer had designed.
8. Conclusion
After performing the above review, it may go back to the strong academic building—Cooper’s facade. Such inference is that Fontana as we see, beyond the two-dimensional, three-dimensional space, after original intention of him. And help us to understand the intention of the information where the incision. "Morphosis" comes from the Greek words; the first meaning is "generate" or "the generation"(to be in formation). In 1989, when the firm published his first album, "Morphosis Buildings and Projects, 1989", George Rand take “Morphosis, Formation, in formation, information as a theme, review and sum up the 10years’ history of office, in which he highlighted a word - "phenomenon of the function". (KM http://www.ukthesis.org/Thesis_Writing/ Eisenhardt, 1989)To describe the design of Tom Moyne and Michael Rotunda that is difficult checked cross-sectional view of the local state, in fact, it’s exert a subtle influence on architecture and promote the building will be forming the inner strength closely linked. Thus, the construction entity aroused the building architect and the user's dialogue. Even though the Morphosis agency complex in the geometry familiar, they continued the sustained attention of the information. And the progress of construct form will be spread by them, through the geometry to obtain the final form of operation increasingly.
Works cited
MC Leaf, GP Mohrmann - Quarterly Journal of Speech, 1974 - informaworld.com
E Lupton, JA Miller - 1999 - Phaidon Press
CA Cooper, BF Massell - The Economic Journal, 1965 – JSTOR
CA Deavours - American Mathematical Monthly, 1973 – JSTOR
C Mitchell - 2010 - cemetech.net
RD Building - Lancet, 2005 - iubcrc.iupui.edu
TA Jones, JY Zou, SW Cowan, M … - … Section A: Foundations …, 1991 - scripts.iucr.org
KM Eisenhardt - Academy of management review, 1989 - JSTOR
