Libeskind and Moments

I attended the second Dream Builders session at the RIBA headquarters in London last night and I felt I needed to share a few thoughts on the process of his Architectural mindset and the way others interpret the way he designs buildings.

 

I have always been a huge fan of Libeskind's work and feel that he barely touched on his theoretical process last night in the way he designs buildings. This is a rare and unique gift. The BBC reporter Razia Iqbal questioned his approach on the process of design within his technique as highly emotive and reactionary,  but I feel that it this idea was somewhat lost in the presentation yesterday. I feel that the process of the movement of Deconstructivism that he created was also not discussed as much as it could have been and I feel that he has realised, through his years, that many of those who are filtered through a degree miss this highly thought out and theoretical approach. What dawned on me and what I never realised about Libeskind in the past, having read many of his essays, walked through his buildings and followed his incredibly successful career was that he is simply doing what he feels is the right thing to do. He is not governed by a school of Modernists who were about constructing monuments for self righteousness and fame, he believes in the spaces that ultimately give back to the people, that give back to life and humanity and in turn become engulfed in emotion and hisotrical context.

 

This was a beautiful realisation for me. I have recently been quite aware of a school of thought in the Construction Industry that promotes this self interest. That those involved in building do remove themselves from the actual fact that we as humans inhabite space differently and involve ourselves in differing ways amongst buildings and Architectural space. This is quite important in terms of how space connects to us as human beings and how we in turn feel when we encapsulate it. The discussion about entering the Jewish museum via an underground tunnel and up and into his deconstructivist space was more than just a reveal in Architectural glory, rather a moment of reflection and time and history that if not felt - you would not be human. I remember feeling that walking in there.

 

I also noted that these beautifully emotive buildings and his response to these devastating moments in history were not only about a mass ideal, rather Libeskind finds small moments of reflections, small snipets of light, of shadow, of reveal that not only occur on a large scale but touch this notion in his detail. This to me not only shows his great acknolwedgement and respect for two quite sacred sites in the world, but also his personal connection to them having been a victim of the devastation of WW2 and a migrant to the amazing city of New York.

 

Overall it was an emotional, beautifully rich and wonderful experience that I thoroughly enjoyed and will always respect the way Libeskind touches space and changes it.