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Daniel Libeskind
From his roots in postwar Poland, Daniel Libeskind has risen to become one of the world’s most recognized architects and designers, as well as a prominent contemporary thinker.
His ascent had many interesting turns. After relocating to Israel, Libeskind’s family came to the U.S. on one of the last immigration boats
in 1959, and he became a U.S. citizen in 1965. Libeskind was a musical virtuoso as a child, even winning a highly coveted America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship. However, as a young adult, he shifted his focus to architecture and earned his architecture degree from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City in 1970 and his postgraduate degree in History and Theory of Architecture
at the School of Comparative Studies at Essex University in England two years later.
After many years as an architecture professor and theorist, Libeskind finally saw his first design realized at the age of 52-the 1998 opening of the Felix Nussbaum Haus in Osnabrück, Germany-and by 1999 he gained international prominence for his design of the Jewish Museum in Berlin. He most recently won international attention and respect when he was named master planner for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site in New York City in 2003. Libeskind’s work was recognized in Time Magazine’s “The Best of 1998 Design Awards.”
Libeskind and his wife, Nina, founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 in Berlin, and upon winning the World Trade Center design competition, Studio Daniel Libeskind (SDL) moved its headquarters to its current location in New York City-two blocks south of the original World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.
In 2003, they also opened Architekt Daniel Libeskind AG (ADL) in Bern, Switzerland to build the Westside project in Bern-Brünnen and also to handle their growing European business. Relocated to zürich in 2004, this branch now employs between 10 and 40 people. Libeskind also maintains an office in Milan, Italy.
Libeskind and his firm have created a wide variety of works, ranging from small- to large- scale projects. Their realized work includes the creation of public and private spaces, as well
as objects and projects with an information- technology focus. Notably, the firm has garnered international attention for its striking museums and spectacular urban designs. Libeskind often provides the initial artistic sketch in ink to his design teams, who then work with CAD/BIM and traditional 3D models to realize his vision. With his extraordinary designs, he has become an icon to the next generation of architects, as well as
to those who are actively creating the futures of cities and culture.
Studio Daniel Libeskind has its headquarters in New York, USA, and offices in zürich, Switzerland, and in Milan, Italy.
Daniel Libeskind’s work has been featured
on the cover of Time Magazine, Newsweek, Architectural Record, and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
“FUNDAMENTAL TO MY THINKING AND MOTIVATION IS THAT BUILDINGS AND URBAN PROJECTS ARE CRAFTED WITH PERCEPTIBLE HUMAN ENERGY AND THEY
SPEAK TO THE LARGER CULTURAL COMMUNITY IN WHICH THEY ARE BUILT.”
www.daniel-libeskind.com