CLASS NOTES

Tom Bessoir EE'79

Tom Bessoir EE'79 writes:

“My newest experimental film, THREE PRIDE FLAGS, premiered at MicroActs in London and The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival. It has screenings at: Nightpiece Film Festival in Edinburgh Scottland on August 26, Supernova Digital Animation Festival in Denver CO on September 17, Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival on September 21-24, Astoria Film Festival in Queen on October 1-2, and The Weird Film Festival in San Francisco on October 29.”

To find out about upcoming screenings of THREE PRIDE FLAGS, please click here.

Everything’s on the Table

An installation that reframes the dining table by students of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture is on view at the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) at the Estonian Museum of Architecture, running from September 7 through November 20, 2022. Everything’s on the Table is the result of a Spring 2022 workshop class co-taught by Acting Dean Hayley Eber AR’01 and adjunct professor Mae-Ling Lokko based on a Fall 2021 seminar taught by Professor Lokko that explored design in the context of culinary practices. Other alumni participants include Tilok Costa AR'22, Foivos Geralis MAR'22, Tiam Schaper AR'22, Xinyi Guo AR'22 and Sanjana Lahiri AR'22.

Shigeru Ban AR'84

An open-air platform for meditation is elevated above the treetops at Zenbo Seinei, a wooden retreat that Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban AR'84 has completed on Awaji Island in Japan. Nestled amongst trees on the island's north side, the meditation retreat is aimed at tourists seeking space for self-reflection, healthy eating and mindfulness. To read more about the retreat, please click here.

Howard Davis PHY'68

Howard Davis PHY'68, Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon, was the keynote speaker at the conference “The Profession’s Extensions: Architecture Beyond Architects in the Modern Middle East” at Princeton University in May 2022. His latest book “Working Cities: Architecture, Place and Production” was published by Routledge.

  • 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.