Cooper Union Foundation Building
USA /
New Jersey /
Hoboken /
Cooper Square
World
/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ Hoboken
World / United States / New York
university, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1850s construction, U.S. National Historic Landmark
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art was established in 1859. Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in the Great Hall on Feb. 27th, 1860 from Cooper Union (then Cooper Institute) as a presidential candidate.
Designed by Frederick A. Peterson, the 6-story Anglo-Italianate building is clad in brownstone. It employed some of the first rolled sections (wrought-iron beams) ever used in New York City, with heavily enframed round-arched windows. The ground floor has an arcade of arches, with 20 of them along the east side, 16 along the west side, and three at the south end's projecting entry loggia, flanked by two addtiional arches on each side. The north end has a wider, 5-bay loggia, raised up to the 2nd level, with another pair of flanking arches at the ground floor. The columns supporting the ground-floor arches are paneled with Corinthian capitals. A stone cornice caps the base.
The upper floors are clad in brownstone blocks, with wider-spaced bays. There are 10 such bays on the east side, 8 on the west side, 7 on the north side, and four on the south side, where the 2nd story of the loggia has Corinthian capitals on its paired square pillars. The main 5-bay loggia, on the north side, has two sections of 2-story round-arches, one spanning the 2nd & 3rd floors, and the other the 4th & 5th floors. The upper set has windows projecting out to the loggia, instead of recessed behind it, as on the bottom level, where the lower center windows have triangular pediments. Both sets of arches have squared pillars with Corinthian capitals, and keystones at the peaks of the arches. Letters above the first set of arches reads "COOPER UNION" and above the second "TO SCIENCE AND ART".
Both the west and east elevations have segmental-arched double-windows at the 2nd floor, with the southernmost bay on the west side projected slightly forward. The 3rd-4th floors have double-height round-arches with keystones. The 5th floor has triple round-arches in each bay, with projecting cornices above and larger projecting dentiled cornices below. A broad continuous stone cornice sets off the 6th floor; another stone "COOPER UNION" panel is just below the cornice on the south facade. The 6th floor, which only extends to the south and east elevations (and the southernmost bay of the west elevation), has smaller round-arched windows above an arcade-like row of small arches on the south ends, and upper and lower levels of square-headed triple-windows on the north ends. At the west elevation, the 5th floor is surmounted by three asymmetrical gables. The northern one has a single round-arched openings, while the other two have a trio of round-arches, the center one being the largest. At the top of the south facade is a small penthouse level with a large clock face below a triangular pediment, flanked by three very small round-arches. A flagpole rises from the top. A large round water tower is also visible on the roof, to the west of the pediment.
Designed by Frederick A. Peterson, the 6-story Anglo-Italianate building is clad in brownstone. It employed some of the first rolled sections (wrought-iron beams) ever used in New York City, with heavily enframed round-arched windows. The ground floor has an arcade of arches, with 20 of them along the east side, 16 along the west side, and three at the south end's projecting entry loggia, flanked by two addtiional arches on each side. The north end has a wider, 5-bay loggia, raised up to the 2nd level, with another pair of flanking arches at the ground floor. The columns supporting the ground-floor arches are paneled with Corinthian capitals. A stone cornice caps the base.
The upper floors are clad in brownstone blocks, with wider-spaced bays. There are 10 such bays on the east side, 8 on the west side, 7 on the north side, and four on the south side, where the 2nd story of the loggia has Corinthian capitals on its paired square pillars. The main 5-bay loggia, on the north side, has two sections of 2-story round-arches, one spanning the 2nd & 3rd floors, and the other the 4th & 5th floors. The upper set has windows projecting out to the loggia, instead of recessed behind it, as on the bottom level, where the lower center windows have triangular pediments. Both sets of arches have squared pillars with Corinthian capitals, and keystones at the peaks of the arches. Letters above the first set of arches reads "COOPER UNION" and above the second "TO SCIENCE AND ART".
Both the west and east elevations have segmental-arched double-windows at the 2nd floor, with the southernmost bay on the west side projected slightly forward. The 3rd-4th floors have double-height round-arches with keystones. The 5th floor has triple round-arches in each bay, with projecting cornices above and larger projecting dentiled cornices below. A broad continuous stone cornice sets off the 6th floor; another stone "COOPER UNION" panel is just below the cornice on the south facade. The 6th floor, which only extends to the south and east elevations (and the southernmost bay of the west elevation), has smaller round-arched windows above an arcade-like row of small arches on the south ends, and upper and lower levels of square-headed triple-windows on the north ends. At the west elevation, the 5th floor is surmounted by three asymmetrical gables. The northern one has a single round-arched openings, while the other two have a trio of round-arches, the center one being the largest. At the top of the south facade is a small penthouse level with a large clock face below a triangular pediment, flanked by three very small round-arches. A flagpole rises from the top. A large round water tower is also visible on the roof, to the west of the pediment.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_Union
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°43'45"N 73°59'25"W
- New York University - Washington Square Campus 0.9 km
- Columbia University in the City of New York 9 km
- City College of New York/CUNY 11 km
- Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons 14 km
- Rutgers - Newark 16 km
- Fordham University 17 km
- Lehman College 18 km
- Fairleigh Dickinson University 20 km
- University of Mount Saint Vincent 22 km
- St. Joseph's Seminary & College 25 km
- East Village 0.8 km
- Lower (Downtown) Manhattan 1 km
- Greenwich Village 1.2 km
- Lower East Side 1.6 km
- Midtown (Manhattan, NY) 2.3 km
- Manhattan 5.9 km
- Hudson County, New Jersey 7 km
- Brooklyn 10 km
- Queens 13 km
- The Palisades 26 km
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