This annual exhibition presents works related to the Benjamin Menschel Fellowships granted to selected Cooper Union students to further work on projects related to art, architecture, design, and engineering. Program director Ninad Pandit notes, "This year’s Benjamin Menschel Fellowship projects continue our attempt to provide a space where artists, architects and engineers can collaborate on projects that further the mission of the Fellowship, and support and enhance the Cooper Union’s core values. Through collaborations and partnerships that are only possible at the Cooper Union, the six projects on display at the 41 Cooper Gallery engage with challenges in the world outside Cooper, whether in its immediate environs, or in distant parts of the country and world. "

This year's fellows and projects include:

Aerin Chavez AR'24, Denise Cholula AR'24, and Rebecca John AR'24, all of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture, researched mycelium, which has become popular with designers because of its compressive strength, biodegradability, and design possibilities, in light of the climate crisis, and explored questions about material-to-product processes.

Adriana Amelia Cordovi A'23, of the School of Art, and Carmen Maldonado AR'23, of the School of Architecture, collaborated on a project into the "ghost town" of Bodie, a mining camp on the sprawling westward frontier located east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in Mono County, California, and what it means to be a town “frozen in time.” 

Ameneh Arsanjani AR'23 and Yunru Daisy Chen AR'23, of the School of Architecture, designed an inflatable living shelter powered by building exhaust systems in a project to understand what is needed and useful to those experiencing homelessness.

Dov Diamond AR'23 and Frederick (Didi) Rapp AR'23, of the School of Architecture, studied the Mississippi River Delta Basin and learned about the human perspectives of living with water amidst a disastrously changing climate.

Earl Kwofie AR'23, of the School of Architecture, translated the board game known as Oware, a Ghanian strategy/ puzzle game, into a virtual environment video game.

Amanda Blanca A'24, of the School of Art, and Nicole Joseph BSE’23 and Lucia Rhode EE'23, of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering, investigated dance, technology, and ways of marrying the two in performance storytelling. 

Opening: January 31, 6 pm-8:00pm

Gallery hours: Daily from 11 am-5pm 

Attendees are required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination; masks are encouraged.