This past November, the Cooper Architecture community welcomed architect, teacher, and Cooper Arch alum, Mark West, for a Tuesday afternoon lecture. Mark discussed his current and past projects, process and concepts.

Mark West has taught architecture for over thirty years at universities in the US, Canada, and Europe, while working as an artist, inventor, builder, and researcher. He is the inventor of fabric-formed concrete techniques for architecture and engineering structures, and was the Founding Director of C.A.S.T., the Centre for Architectural Structures and Technology at the University of Manitoba where he held appointments in both Architecture and Civil Engineering. He currently holds appointments as a Visiting Professor of Architecture at MIT, and Visiting Lecturer in Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Bath University, UK.

You may watch a recording of the lecture on The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Channel. 

The tour was organized as part of the Building Technology Class that I teach, but was also related to the third year studio.  The tour was led by Robert Katchur, an associate principal at Diller Scofidio Renfro (Diller and Scofidio are both alumni and former faculty). The students were accompanied also by studio faculty members Nima Javidi and Ben Aranda, and by Associate Dean Elizabeth O'Donnell AR'83. 

Currently under construction on the far west side of Manhattan where the High Line meets Hudson Yards, The Shed will be housed in a 200,000-square-foot, six-level structure designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Rockwell Group. The radically flexible design of the performative structure can physically and operationally accommodate the broadest range of performance, visual art, music, and multi-disciplinary work. Purpose-built to complement The Shed’s programmatic vision, the building is designed to operate in various configurations and to offer multiple events simultaneously.

Work from Cooper Union Architecture students will be presented at the annual Menschel Fellowship Exhibition, which opens January 31^st in the 5^th and 6^th floor lobbies of the Foundation Building. Five students from the School of Architecture will be exhibiting work: Jenny Hsiao and Hui Rong Liu, will present their project, A Bowl of Ocean Soup. Students Yu Kiu Chan, Kelsey Lee, and Piao Liu will present their project, Tracing the Forgotten: Tibetan Vernacular Architecture. The Menschel Fellowship is a program designed to provide 4^th year students the opportunity to travel and research specific areas of personal interest.

The proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities has sent shockwaves through creative communities throughout the nation. Although the NEA, the NEH, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting occupy less than 1% of the overall annual budget, the organizations have come under threat of extinction. The Hill reports that in addition to the privatization of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the NEA and NEH would be completely eliminated with the proposed Trump Administration plan. Petitions are currently being circulated to stop these cuts from taking place. Concerned individuals are also encouraged to call their Congressional senators and representatives.