Oct 27, 2009
Small Wonder: 41 Cooper Square: Observatory: Design Observer A pretty scathing review of the new Cooper building is on the front page of Design Observer today. As a student who is in the building nearly every day for hours on end, generally loves it and feels lucky to be there, I have to wonder how anyone can take this review seriously: When I originally embarked on this review, I wanted to talk about the building as an educational space. Most other reviews I had read were filed before students and faculty moved in, even, in the case of the New York Times, before the building was finished. But on my tour I was whisked past the classrooms, and told not to hang around with a notebook for fear of disturbing the students. It reminds me of a point I raised in discussion with Liza in the first issue of Process: there’s a whole world of jargon and culture surrounding architecture but isn’t what really matters in architecture how well the building works for the people who inhabit it every day? I know that the school is pretty uptight about keeping the public out of the building but reviewing a building that you’ve purportedly been “whisked” through is like reviewing a movie that you’ve watched on fast forward. Yes it’s got a lot of problems (namely slow elevators), but nearly every day I find new things to like about the designed space we’ve generously been given. The reviews have me disappointed.

Small Wonder: 41 Cooper Square: Observatory: Design Observer

A pretty scathing review of the new Cooper building is on the front page of Design Observer today. As a student who is in the building nearly every day for hours on end, generally loves it and feels lucky to be there, I have to wonder how anyone can take this review seriously:

When I originally embarked on this review, I wanted to talk about the building as an educational space. Most other reviews I had read were filed before students and faculty moved in, even, in the case of the New York Times, before the building was finished. But on my tour I was whisked past the classrooms, and told not to hang around with a notebook for fear of disturbing the students.

It reminds me of a point I raised in discussion with Liza in the first issue of Process: there’s a whole world of jargon and culture surrounding architecture but isn’t what really matters in architecture how well the building works for the people who inhabit it every day?

I know that the school is pretty uptight about keeping the public out of the building but reviewing a building that you’ve purportedly been “whisked” through is like reviewing a movie that you’ve watched on fast forward.

Yes it’s got a lot of problems (namely slow elevators), but nearly every day I find new things to like about the designed space we’ve generously been given. The reviews have me disappointed.

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