ARCHITECT AND HIS DESIGN PHYLOSOPHY - DANIEL LIBESKIND

ARCHITECT AND DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Ar. Daniel Libeskind, an internationally acclaimed architect and  urban designer, is well known for introducing a new critical discourse on architecture and for his multidisciplinary approach. 

His practice extends from building major cultural and commercial institutions—including museums and concert halls—to convention centers, universities, housing, hotels, shopping centers, and residential work. He also designs opera sets and maintains an object design studio.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHIES

Transforms lofty ideas and powerful emotions into the physical forms of buildings.

He collects ideas about the social and historical context of a project, mixes in his thoughts, and transforms it all into a physical structure representing a deep symbolic meaning.

Famously known as 'de-constructivist’.

His style constitutes a recognizable "brand". The brand consists of sharp, angular, metallic shards, with gravity-defying walls, and conveys the unmistakable thrill of indiscretion.

HIS WORKS INCLUDE

1) 18.36.54 House, Connecticut, USA

 Its18 folds yield 36 knifelike points and 54 lines (both folds and edges) following a mathematical series that guided Libeskind and gave the house its name “18.36.54″. 

2) The Jewish Museum, Berlin

The Jewish Museum Berlin, which opened to the public in 2001, exhibits the social, political and cultural history of the Jews in Germany from the 4th C to the present.

It is not specifically a Holocaust museum; its purpose is to illustrate the intellectual, economic and cultural contributions of Jewish citizens in Berlin, to highlight the void left because of World War II, and to cultivate a collective memory that goes beyond Jewish consciousness to all cultures and permeates the entire social fabric of the city.

Within the post-modern approach, Libeskind employed the theories of deconstructivism, which is characterized by fragmentation, non-rectilinear shapes and a manipulation of a structure’s facade in order to create a controlled chaos that heightens the user experience.

Internally, the museum’s circulation is a collection of interconnected pathways and voids, which segment the user experience, forcing visitors to pause and reflect.

Externally, the museum’s fragmented form takes on the shape that of a large zigzag line, which earned it the nickname "blitz", German word for thunderbolt.

3) WTC (Freedom Tower), New York City

Competing against many of the world's most accomplished architects, Libeskind conceived a design (won the competition in February 2003) that incorporated, in its every aspect, the significance of the tragedy that took place at that site on September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Centre. 

The design included a series of buildings to hold offices, residences, a performing arts center, and shopping centres; the tallest building was to be 1,776 feet, a number chosen by Libeskind to recall the year the United States gained independence from Britain. The shape of the building, which was to be topped by a tall spire, would echo that of the nearby Statue of Liberty.