Daniel Libeskind

Turkchem 22 Nov 2018 42 4 dk okuma

TURKCHEM

Daniel Libeskind's Works Narrate War and Destruction

Imperial War Museum North, Great Britain

The Imperial War Museum North (IWMN) in Manchester, England, tells the story of how war has affected the lives of British citizens and Commonwealth nationals since 1914. When the IWM decided to establish another museum in northern England, Trafford Park's war history made it an ideal location. The site had the distinction of being a place where ammunition, tanks and engines were manufactured for the First and Second World Wars. During the Second World War, air raids by Germany (the Manchester Blitz) targeted factories and warehouses in the Trafford Park area, causing extensive damage. The area where IWM North is now located was once occupied by Hovis Grain Silos, which were bombed and burned before the Second World War. When the foundations were excavated for the museum construction, shrapnel and anti-aircraft cartridges were found. The museum's design concept is a world that has been fractured and then reassembled. The interlocking of three of these fragments—representing earth, air and water—forms the building's shape. The Earth Fragment creates the museum space representing open and worldly conflict and war zones; the Air Fragment, with its reflected images, observation points and educational areas, provides a dramatic entrance to the museum; and the Water Fragment comprises a platform containing a canal, a restaurant, café, terrace and performance space. Since its completion in 2001, IWMN has been selected as one of the most significant ten buildings of the past century (The Rough Guide to England, Great Britain) and as one of the three largest major visitor attractions in England (Silver Award at VisitBritain's Excellence Awards in England 2007).

Leuphana University Forum, Germany

At Lüneburg's Leuphana University, the new Forum designed in collaboration with Daniel Libeskind provides a building that showcases the university's vision of innovation and excellence. The building integrates a Research Centre, Student Centre, Seminar Centre and Auditorium into a single structure. This new configuration supports cross-disciplinary interaction and a dynamic learning environment for students and faculty members. Each function is housed within four separate and mutually interconnected volumes that together form a large composite structure achieving maximum efficiency in terms of use, construction, energy consumption and architectural impact. Following Leuphana University's tradition, student participation in the design development was integrated into the process of campus transformation. In seminars organized by Professor Libeskind and other academics at the university, students gained insight into the complex questions of various design phases, articulated their own perspectives and developed solutions that led to the project's implementation. Along with the building's design, other subjects included in student participation were landscape design, wayfinding systems and interior design. The design of a multi-faith purification and meditation room, the 'Raum der Stille', was also among the seminar topics. The basis of all this participation lies in the emphasis on creating an educational space that provides communication, creativity and knowledge exchange reflected in the design. The RW + practice provided detailed design, tender documentation and site supervision for the architectural project. Studio Libeskind carried out artistic supervision during design and construction.

Royal Ontario Museum Extension, Canada

Now called the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, the extension to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is located at one of the most important intersections in downtown Toronto. ROM is Canada's largest museum and attracts over one million visitors annually. The building's five intersecting metal-clad volumes inspired the complex's new name. These volumes were inspired by crystal formations in ROM's mineralogy galleries. Libeskind transformed this important corner of Toronto and the entire museum complex into an illuminated landmark through organically interwoven prismatic forms. With this expansion, a new group entrance was created at Queen's Park, where visitors enter a spectacular atrium through stairs leading to upper galleries, with the two themes of the museum—"Nature and Culture"—prominently displayed. All ground-level circulation and transparency are unified in a seamless space. The Crystal transforms ROM's fortress-like character into an atmosphere dedicated to the Museum's revitalization as Toronto's dynamic centre. The design succeeds in capturing attention. The main entrance courtyard, Gloria Hyacinth Chen Court, separates the restored facades of historic buildings, making them almost completely visible from the older historic building. Chen Court also serves as a space for all types of public events. Opened in June 2007, this addition provides approximately 10,000 square metres of new exhibition space, a new entrance and lobby, street-level retail space and three new restaurants. Studio Libeskind also renovated ten galleries in the existing historic building as part of the project.Photo: Maulim / CC BY 2.0

Photo: Dr. Bernd Gross / CC BY-SA 3.0

Military History Museum, Germany

The Dresden Military History Museum, now the official museum of the German Armed Forces, was closed for a time due to uncertainty about how an institution encompassing all of reunified Germany could fit into this space. Studio Libeskind was selected as the winner of an expansion competition held in 2001. The winning design boldly disrupts the original building's classical symmetry. A broad, five-storey, 14,500-tonne wedge extension of glass, concrete and steel enters and pierces the old arsenal's classical order. A 25-metre-high observation platform (the wedge's highest point is 38 metres) offers breathtaking views of modern Dresden while creating a space for reflection by triangulating the area where firebombing of Dresden began. The new facade's openness and transparency aims to contrast with the existing building's opacity and severity. The former reflects the military's transparency in a democratic society, while the latter represents the rigidity of an authoritarian past. The interaction between these perspectives shapes the character of the new Military History Museum. Within the original columned building, Germany's military history is presented in chronological order. The wedge cuts through this horizontal chronology between 1914-1945, creating a clear architectural division. The new exhibition spaces focus on the social forces and human drives that generate war and violence.