Elemental Constructions and The Universal Language of Architecture

Mersiha Veledar, AIA is an educator, a registered architect and the Acting Associate Dean at The Cooper Union School of Architecture, with a passion for experimental design. She has been teaching and coordinating a wide range of award-winning studios and seminars at The Cooper Union School of Architecture since 2005, grounded in the development of universal elements, public framework and housing.

The foundation of her professional work and pedagogy in architectonics and building-integrated housing originates in her thesis, Architecture Can Heal: Universal Elements and The Common Ground (advised by Lebbeus Woods) at The Cooper Union. This award-winning project explored how surreal elements of nature—light, air, water, and wind—can shape the design of architectural elements ranging from walls, columns, doors, stairs and windows to quotidian objects such as chairs and tables, forming a universal alphabet of design fundamentals.

Through her independent research and design atelier, Veledar Works, she continues to develop and refine these intimately scaled elements while testing new possibilities through projects that bridge concept and built form. Her professional portfolio spans a wide range of public and private programs—from schools and museums to the intimate and playful details of domestic residences—with built work in New York, New Jersey, and abroad.