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James Lowder

Assistant Professor

James Lowder earned his B. Arch from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-Arc) and his M.Arch from Princeton University. As a practicing architect, Lowder has worked as a designer in offices and studios internationally, including Coop Himmelb(l)au, Studio Daniel Libeskind and Reiser + Umemoto. He is currently working on numerous projects in the United States and South America, including a residence in St. Simons Island, Georgia and a housing project in La Paz, Bolivia. His work has been shown in galleries and exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, and Sydney.  In addition to teaching design studio and representation courses at the Cooper Union, Lowder has taught at Sci-Arc and the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he was the 2008-2009 John and Magda McHale Fellow.

  • 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.