Frederick Rapp

Fredrick Rapp (Didi) is an Adjunct Professor at The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at Cooper Union. He holds a B.Arch from Cooper Union and is a New York-based designer exploring representation's impact on fabrication. His work bridges architectural practice, exhibition curation, and interdisciplinary research.

Education:

• B.Arch, Cooper Union

Research Interests: Didi’s practice focuses on material systems, ecological coexistence, and cultural narratives. Projects like The Land is Not the Territory and Architectures of Decolonization explore human-environment interactions and postcolonial spatial practices. Recent work includes a digestive food cart for Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, addressing ecological relationships through design. His methods combine full-scale prototyping with critical theory.

Awards:

• Benjamin Menschel Fellowship (exhibition on coastal human-water dynamics)
• Art Thompson Thesis Fellowship (fabrication-based thesis)

Teaching & Grants: Taught courses at Cooper Union, The Chapin School, and Cooper’s summer programs. Active in exhibition design and collaborative research projects. Current work involves large-scale installations merging art and architecture.

Exhibitions: Featured in MoMA’s Architectures of Decolonization in South Asia, Venice Architecture Biennale, and Pamplona’s Vkhutemas exhibition. Recent projects include Critical Mass thesis conference presentation and Edible, or the Architecture of Metabolism.