Cooper Union

The building you are approaching is the Foundation Building, the original home of the Cooper Union. It was completed in eighteen fifty-eight by the inventor and industrialist Peter Cooper. At the time of its construction, it stood as the tallest building in Manhattan. Peter Cooper was a man of intense foresight who believed the city would inevitably grow upward. Because of this, he insisted that the building be designed with a vertical shaft to accommodate an elevator, even though a safe passenger elevator did not yet exist. The shaft he built was circular, as he believed that shape to be the most efficient design for vertical travel. When Elisha Otis finally perfected his safety brake for elevators, the building was ready to receive one, effectively helping to pave the way for the era of the skyscraper.