Cooper Union Foundation Building

The landmark Foundation Building of the Cooper Union, established by industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper, was the first to feature a structural system of rolled wrought iron. Together with a unique circular elevator shaft and ventilation system, the building's innovations were a harbinger of the technological advancements in skyscraper design.^[1] 

“A forerunner of the skyscraper, the Italianate brownstone was the first building in New York to use rolled iron I-beams for structural support, which were designed by Peter Cooper himself. The Foundation Building houses the Great Hall, which has witnessed some of the most important political and social events of the past two centuries. Debates in the Great Hall gave birth to the NAACP and the women’s suffrage movement, and the space has hosted speeches by Presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, Clinton and Obama.”