This is the Cooper Union Foundation building located in Cooper Square, East Village. In 1853, Peter Cooper (1791-1883) presented a blueprint for The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art which included a curious addition that had never been seen before: an elevator shaft. Cooper was so sure that the invention of the elevator would follow that he included a circular shaft in the building to accommodate this update to traditional dumbwaiters and pulley systems. The inclusion of the shaft was followed by the addition of an elevator in 1856.
This building became a meeting place for academics, intellectuals, free thinkers, and inventors from all social statuses. With the insight of Cooper, it is no surprise that others wanted to share ideas, inventions, scientific discoveries and history within its walls. Cooper was an inventor and one of the richest men during his lifetime. He made his fortunes in real estate, a cloth-shearing venture, iron and steel production, as well as various other industries. With such a strong interest in building production, it makes sense why Cooper would anticipate a system that would efficiently lift people and products from floor to floor.
The original building includes rolled-iron I-beams (patented and produced by Cooper himself) and newly patented fire resistant hollow brick tiles. The building remains open academically with programs in architecture, engineering, and fine arts while offering historical tours around its numerous galleries and auditoriums. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, a New York City landmark in 1965, and entered into the Historic American Engineering Record in 1971.
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Sources:
Exact copy of photo courtesy of TravelingOtter via Flickr (https://flic.kr/p/8EXahm) under creative commons license terms (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode)
http://cooper.edu/about/historyhttp://www.ringwoodmanor.com/peo/ch/pc/pc.htm
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB124631610981670647
http://library.cooper.edu/archive/foundation_building_historic_views_page10.html
