The new academic building of New York’s Cooper Union stands in sharp contrast to the 19th Century brownstone just next door. The new building, which houses the university’s schools of engineering and art, was designed by Thom Mayne and completed in 2009. I made this image from the triangular park just in front of the university’s original home, which stands just across Third Avenue from this pair of buildings. It was in the Great Hall of the school’s original building that Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Cooper Union speech, leading to his nomination in 1860. By contrasting the architecture on this street corner, I express the growth of not only this venerable institution, but also the astounding changes in New York as a city over the last 150 years.