The Cooper Union is not your typical university, and 41 Cooper Square is not your typical academic building.

The objective of this campus building, built in 2006 by architect Thom Mayne,  is to inspire students to think differently, and in particular, to think “vertically.”

The original name of the intriguing structure was simply the New Academic Building, but it has since earned the colloquial title of 41 Cooper Square, and the name stuck. The building is home to the Albert Nerken School of Engineering, and sits on the site where the Hewitt Building once stood.