Statement

My business partners and I are incredibly grateful for the education we received at Cooper and feel fortunate to have graduated without significant student debt.  We were able to start the business within months of graduating and have developed an experimental practice which we feel represents Cooper’s values.  Graduating with student debt would have made this impossible.

The prospect of moving the school back to a tuition free model is daunting, but I believe the fight needs to continue and if elected I will represent the many alumni who believe in keeping Cooper tuition free.  Short of achieving full tuition for all students, I’m interested in bridge solutions that offer ways for disgruntled alumni and parents to stay engaged in the school and help soften the hardship of tuition for current students, while also protesting harmful decisions of the current administration.

Bio

Wes Rozen is one of the partners of SITU Studio and is currently teaching first year design in the Architecture School.  Wes founded SITU Studio with four other Architecture alumni shortly after graduating, building on principles established while studying at Cooper.  The company has a broad approach to architectural practice and has three distinct divisions: Research, Design and Fabrication, which operate out of workshops in Dumbo, Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  Over the past 10 years the studio has won numerous grants and awards including the Architectural League Emerging Voices and a New York City Art Commission Award for Excellence in Design.

Outside of architecture, Wes’ interests in film, mechanics, and animation have informed projects at Situ Studio and teaching positions at Cooper Union, Columbia University, the Aarhus Architecture School, Denmark and the Royal Academy School of Architecture, Denmark.