Mission

The Cooper Triangle and its surrounding area fascinated the team; so rarely in our continued study of public space did we encounter a place in such an intriguing location that seemed to fall so short of its potential. It’s located in a diverse community who inhabit the area at all times of day.

Adjacent to several schools of different age groups, and situated in a vibrant area with plenty of foot traffic, the space consists of a wide variety of passersby, from students to professionals. However, the space currently functions mostly as a plaza to be moved through rather than enjoyed, and the park and plaza are in this way disconnected from the rest of the East Village neighborhood. The space is underutilized, uninviting, and poorly maintained; it exists in limbo between Washington Square Park and Tompkins Square Park. Cooper Square and Triangle defy the strict Manhattan grid-style streets, making this a unique hub surrounded by promising partners that could utilize and help transform it as a public space.

We saw an opportunity to improve the space with respect to Peter Cooper’s legacy and serve the diverse members of the East Village neighborhood through community involvement in the design process. Our proposal seeks to remedy this and provide the necessary renovations and programming to allow the space to actualize the potential we see.