Week 6 Another article written by Richard ---Thom Mayne's 41 Cooper Square

This is also an article written by Richard Lacayo. Compared to Ando’s article that I read in week5, Richard used a different writing method to portray Thom Mayne’s masterpiece-----Cooper building. Firstly, he described the surrounding before 41 Cooper Union set up. Readers may wander to know what architecture can fit in such a circumstance. Then the writer illustrated the exterior and interior of this building and Thom Mayne’s background. Compared to Week 5 ---Ando’s article, Richard’s description of this article is more concentrated on building’s details and structures instead of more subjective admiration.

In terms of Cooper Union’s exterior, for instance, he wrote Cooper Union building’s outside, which is “a perforated steel scrim that acts as both a sunscreen and an instant attention-grabber.” Besides, it’s inside, with “a perforated steel scrim that acts as both a sunscreen and an instant attention-grabber”.

Moreover, the week5 article was more general to portray the achievement of Ando, in this article; Richard took Cooper Union as a case study with more analysis. As a result of the plenty of facts, Richard can obtain a wide range of viewpoints and perspectives and his articles had more rich contents.

Besides, Richard cited Mayne’s quotes, “as a design and engineering school, Cooper Union is a place that's about creative capital. So we wanted something that had energy”, to explain the intention of Cooper Union’s complex orchestrations of space and perforated metal skin. Though Mayne’s quotes, readers can better understand the cause of Cooper Union’s exterior design and background.

At last, Richard also used Mayne’s comments to explain interior design. Mayne described the stairway as a vertical piazza and it was not just movement up and down but also a place used for gathering and sitting. He also related it to the age of Renaissance and the Spanish Steps, which left a more mysterious and historic impression to readers.

Link: http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1948643,00.html