Daniel Libeskind, Rock Star Architect

Last night I went with some friends to see a lecture by Daniel Libeskind. For those of you who don't know who he is, he is an architect that has risen to fame in the US primarily because of his winning design for the World Trade Center site, the so-called "Freedom Tower" and associated buildings.

He spoke inside a temple at a local synagogue. Apparently there was some kind of communication error, as he let us know that we wasn't allowed to use any kind of visual projectors in the synagogue. Weird that this wasn't communicated, but also weird that he thought he could just set up power point in there.

Regardless, he spent the next hour simply talking about architecture. And even though he's one of those typical, esoteric artsy weirdos who loves his own voice, it was fascinating. It was really amazing to see an architect working a room on his WORDS and not the images of his buildings and projects. Granted, I'm a bit biased here, as I love this kind of stuff. But there were plenty of normal people in there who were obviously in a trance over what he was saying.

Although I'm sure that my friends' interpretation will be different, this is what I took away from last night - it's not about the design of the building, it's about its connection to people. Fortunately for Libeskind and those in his profession, good architecture, whatever that is, connects people to the building better than bad architecture. But a striking building isn't just something to look at; it's a place that reminds us of what once was and what can be again; it can make a person's life easier by giving them something to dream about. And Libeskind's work has arguably done that.

Now the question is, is what's going on at Ground Zero a good thing from a planning perspective?

http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/

http://www.renewnyc.com/plan_des_dev/wtc_site/new_design_plans
/Freedom_Tower/freedom_tower_dec_19.asp