DANIEL LIBESKIND
Daniel Libeskind, B.Arch. M.A. BDA AIA is an international figure in
architectural practice and urban design. He is well known for introducing a new
critical discourse into 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.
Born in postwar Poland in 1946, Mr. Libeskind became an American citizen in
1965. He studied music in Israel (on the America-Israel Cultural Foundation
Scholarship) and in New York, becoming a virtuoso performer. He left music to
study architecture, receiving his professional architectural degree in 1970 from
the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. He
received a postgraduate degree in History and Theory of Architecture at the
School of Comparative Studies at Essex University (England) in 1972.
In 1989, Mr. Libeskind won the competition for the Jewish Museum Berlin, which
opened to the public in September 2001 to wide public acclaim. The city museum
of Osnabrück, Germany, The Felix Nussbaum Haus, opened in July 1998. In July
2002, the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England opened to the public.
Atelier Weil, a private atelier/gallery, opened in Mallorca, Spain in September
2003. The Graduate Student Centre at the London Metropolitan University opened
in March 2004, and the Danish Jewish Museum opened in Copenhagen in June 2004.
Tangent, an office tower for the Hyundai Development Corporation, opened in
Seoul, Korea in February 2005. Memoria e Luce, a 9/11 memorial in Padua, Italy
opened on September 11, 2005, and the Wohl Centre, Bar Ilan University, Tel
Aviv, Israel opened in October, 2005. Most recently, the Frederic C.Hamilton
building , Extension to the Denver Art Museum, alongside the Denver Museum
Residences, in Colorado, opened in October 2006 , the Extension to the Royal
Ontario Museum, Canada, opened in June of 2007, and the Glass Courtyard, an
extension to the Jewish Museum Berlin, which covers the original Courtyard, was
completed in the Fall 2007.
Several of Mr. Libeskind’s projects are currently under construction, including:
Westside, the largest shopping and wellness center in Europe in Bern,
Switzerland; the Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany; the Ascent at
Roebling’s Bridge, a residential high-rise in Covington, Kentucky; the
Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, California : the Grand Canal
performing Arts Centre and Galleria in Dublin, Irland ; City Center , a retail
complex , on the Las vegas Strip in Nevada; Zlota 44 , a residential high rise
in Warsaw , Poland and a grand piano , designed for Schimmel Pianos, is
currently in production. Upon winning the World Trade Center design competition
in February 2003, Daniel Libeskind was appointed as master plan architect for
the site in New York City. Memory Foundations is now under construction.
Mr. Libeskind has many other projects in design and planning, such as the New
Center for Arts and Culture in Boston, Massachusetts; the redevelopment of the
Hummingbird Centre - the L Tower, for the Performing Arts in Toronto , Canada ;
the redevelopment of the historic Fiera Milano Fairgrounds in Milan, Italy, New
Songdo City, in Incheon, South Korea; a waterfront, residential development,
Reflexions, in keppel bay, Singapore; Rejuvenation, a center for children in the
Katrina-ravaged area of Gulfport, Mississippi; Editoriale Bresciana Tower in
Brescia; and Orestad Downtown Master Site Plan, in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is
a 5 km development zone.
Mr. Libeskind has taught and lectured at many universities worldwide. He has
held such positions as the Frank O. Gehry Chair at the University of Toronto,
Professor at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, Germany, and the Cret
Chair at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Louis Kahn Chair at Yale
University. He has received numerous awards, including the 2001 Hiroshima Art
Prize - an award given to an artist whose work promotes international
understanding and peace, never before given to an architect. He was awarded the
1999 Deutsche Architekturpreis (German Architecture Prize) for the Jewish Museum
Berlin; also the 2000 Goethe Medallion for cultural contribution; in 1996 the
American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Architecture and in the same year
the Berlin Cultural Prize; in 1990 a membership in the European Academy of Arts
and Letters; in 1997 an Honorary Doctorate from Humboldt Universität, Berlin;
also in 1999 an Honorary Doctorate from the College of Arts and Humanities,
Essex University, England; in 2002 an Honorary Doctorate from the University of
Edinburgh and an Honorary Doctorate from DePaul University, Chicago, and most
recently in 2004, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Toronto. Two of
Mr. Libeskind’s buildings won RIBA Awards in 2004, the London Metropolitan
University Graduate Centre and the Imperial War Museum North, the latter of
which was also nominated for the Stirling Prize. Also in 2004, Mr. Libeskind
was appointed the first Cultural Ambassador for Architecture by the U.S.
Department of State, as part of the CultureConnect Program.
Daniel Libeskind’s work has been exhibited extensively in major museums and
galleries around the world and has also been the subject of numerous
international publications in many languages. His buildings have appeared on
the covers of Time Magazine, Newsweek, Architectural Record, and the Wall Street
Journal, among others. Mr. Libeskind’s ideas have influenced a new generation
of architects and those interested in the future development of cities and
culture. In September, 2004, Riverhead Books (Penguin Group) published his
memoir, Breaking Ground. The foreign language editions were published in
Daniel Libeskind, B.Arch. M.A. BDA AIA is an international figure in
architectural practice and urban design. He is well known for introducing a new
critical discourse into 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.
Born in postwar Poland in 1946, Mr. Libeskind became an American citizen in
1965. He studied music in Israel (on the America-Israel Cultural Foundation
Scholarship) and in New York, becoming a virtuoso performer. He left music to
study architecture, receiving his professional architectural degree in 1970 from
the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. He
received a postgraduate degree in History and Theory of Architecture at the
School of Comparative Studies at Essex University (England) in 1972.
In 1989, Mr. Libeskind won the competition for the Jewish Museum Berlin, which
opened to the public in September 2001 to wide public acclaim. The city museum
of Osnabrück, Germany, The Felix Nussbaum Haus, opened in July 1998. In July
2002, the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England opened to the public.
Atelier Weil, a private atelier/gallery, opened in Mallorca, Spain in September
2003. The Graduate Student Centre at the London Metropolitan University opened
in March 2004, and the Danish Jewish Museum opened in Copenhagen in June 2004.
Tangent, an office tower for the Hyundai Development Corporation, opened in
Seoul, Korea in February 2005. Memoria e Luce, a 9/11 memorial in Padua, Italy
opened on September 11, 2005, and the Wohl Centre, Bar Ilan University, Tel
Aviv, Israel opened in October, 2005. Most recently, the Frederic C.Hamilton
building , Extension to the Denver Art Museum, alongside the Denver Museum
Residences, in Colorado, opened in October 2006 , the Extension to the Royal
Ontario Museum, Canada, opened in June of 2007, and the Glass Courtyard, an
extension to the Jewish Museum Berlin, which covers the original Courtyard, was
completed in the Fall 2007.
Several of Mr. Libeskind’s projects are currently under construction, including:
Westside, the largest shopping and wellness center in Europe in Bern,
Switzerland; the Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany; the Ascent at
Roebling’s Bridge, a residential high-rise in Covington, Kentucky; the
Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, California : the Grand Canal
performing Arts Centre and Galleria in Dublin, Irland ; City Center , a retail
complex , on the Las vegas Strip in Nevada; Zlota 44 , a residential high rise
in Warsaw , Poland and a grand piano , designed for Schimmel Pianos, is
currently in production. Upon winning the World Trade Center design competition
in February 2003, Daniel Libeskind was appointed as master plan architect for
the site in New York City. Memory Foundations is now under construction.
Mr. Libeskind has many other projects in design and planning, such as the New
Center for Arts and Culture in Boston, Massachusetts; the redevelopment of the
Hummingbird Centre - the L Tower, for the Performing Arts in Toronto , Canada ;
the redevelopment of the historic Fiera Milano Fairgrounds in Milan, Italy, New
Songdo City, in Incheon, South Korea; a waterfront, residential development,
Reflexions, in keppel bay, Singapore; Rejuvenation, a center for children in the
Katrina-ravaged area of Gulfport, Mississippi; Editoriale Bresciana Tower in
Brescia; and Orestad Downtown Master Site Plan, in Copenhagen, Denmark, which is
a 5 km development zone.
Mr. Libeskind has taught and lectured at many universities worldwide. He has
held such positions as the Frank O. Gehry Chair at the University of Toronto,
Professor at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, Germany, and the Cret
Chair at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Louis Kahn Chair at Yale
University. He has received numerous awards, including the 2001 Hiroshima Art
Prize - an award given to an artist whose work promotes international
understanding and peace, never before given to an architect. He was awarded the
1999 Deutsche Architekturpreis (German Architecture Prize) for the Jewish Museum
Berlin; also the 2000 Goethe Medallion for cultural contribution; in 1996 the
American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Architecture and in the same year
the Berlin Cultural Prize; in 1990 a membership in the European Academy of Arts
and Letters; in 1997 an Honorary Doctorate from Humboldt Universität, Berlin;
also in 1999 an Honorary Doctorate from the College of Arts and Humanities,
Essex University, England; in 2002 an Honorary Doctorate from the University of
Edinburgh and an Honorary Doctorate from DePaul University, Chicago, and most
recently in 2004, an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Toronto. Two of
Mr. Libeskind’s buildings won RIBA Awards in 2004, the London Metropolitan
University Graduate Centre and the Imperial War Museum North, the latter of
which was also nominated for the Stirling Prize. Also in 2004, Mr. Libeskind
was appointed the first Cultural Ambassador for Architecture by the U.S.
Department of State, as part of the CultureConnect Program.
Daniel Libeskind’s work has been exhibited extensively in major museums and
galleries around the world and has also been the subject of numerous
international publications in many languages. His buildings have appeared on
the covers of Time Magazine, Newsweek, Architectural Record, and the Wall Street
Journal, among others. Mr. Libeskind’s ideas have influenced a new generation
of architects and those interested in the future development of cities and
culture. In September, 2004, Riverhead Books (Penguin Group) published his
memoir, Breaking Ground. The foreign language editions were published in