Daniel Libeskind life and biography

Daniel Libeskind (born May 12, 1946 in Łódź, Poland) is an American architect, artist, and set designer of Polish-Jewish descent. He founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. His buildings include the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, the extension to the Denver Art Museum in the United States, the Imperial War Museum North in Salford Quays, England, the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, the Felix Nussbaum Haus in Osnabrück, Germany, the Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Wohl Centre at the Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel. His portfolio also includes several residential projects. Libeskind’s work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Bauhaus Archives, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Centre Pompidou. On February 27, 2003, Libeskind won the competition to be the master plan architect for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan.

Career

Though he had been an architectural theorist and professor for many years, Libeskind completed his first building at the age of 52, with the opening of the Felix Nussbaum Haus in 1998. Prior to this, critics had dismissed his designs as "unbuildable or unduly assertive". The first design competition that Libeskind won was in 1987 for housing in West Berlin, but soon thereafter the Berlin Wall fell and the project was cancelled.

The Jewish Museum Berlin, completed in 1999, was Libeskind’s first major international success and was one of the first buildings designed after reunification. Today the museum is Germany’s most visited. Libeskind has also designed cultural and commercial institutions, museums, concert halls, convention centers, universities, residences, hotels, and shopping centers. Critics often describe Libeskind’s work as deconstructivist.

Libeskind is perhaps most famous for being selected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to oversee the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He titled his concept for the site Memory Foundations.

Studio Daniel Libeskind, headquartered two blocks south of the World Trade Center site in New York, is currently working on over 40 projects across the world. The studio’s most recent completed projects include the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, California, The Ascent at Roebling's Bridge in Covington, Kentucky, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario.

In addition to his architectural projects, Libeskind also designs opera sets for productions such as the Norwegian National Theatre’s The Architect in 1998 and Saarländisches Staatstheater’s Tristan und Isolde in 2001. He also designed the sets and costumes for Intolleranza by Luigi Nono and for a production of Messiaen's Saint Francis of Assisi by Deutsche Oper Berlin. He has also written free verse poetry, included in his book Fishing from the Pavement.

Work
The following projects are listed on the Studio Daniel Libeskind website.

Completed
* 1989-1999 Jewish Museum Berlin - Berlin, Germany
* 1995-1998 Felix Nussbaum Haus - Osnabrück, Germany
* 1997-2001 Imperial War Museum North - Greater Manchester, England
* 1998-2008 Contemporary Jewish Museum - San Francisco, California, United States
* 2000-2003 Studio Weil - Majorca, Spain
* 2000-2006 Extension to the Denver Art Museum, Frederic C. Hamilton Building - Denver, Colorado, United States
* 2000-2006 Denver Art Museum Residences - Denver, Colorado, United States
* 2000-2008 Westside Shopping and Leisure Centre - Bern, Switzerland
* 2001-2003 Danish Jewish Museum - Copenhagen, Denmark
* 2001-2004 London Metropolitan University Graduate Centre - London, England
* 2001-2005 The Wohl Centre - Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
* 2002-2007 Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, extension to Royal Ontario Museum and renovation of ten of its existing galleries - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
* 2003-2005 Tangent, Facade for Hyundai Development Corporation Headquarters - Seoul, South Korea
* 2004-2005 Memoria e Luce, 9/11 Memorial - Padua, Italy
* 2004-2007 Glass Courtyard addition to the Jewish Museum Berlin - Berlin, Germany
* 2004-2008 The Ascent at Roebling's Bridge, residential condominium building - Covington, Kentucky, United States
* 2005-2009 MGM Mirage's CityCenter, retail and public space on the Las Vegas Strip - Las Vegas, Nevada
* 2004-2010 Grand Canal Square, Grand Canal Theatre and Commercial Development - Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Under Construction
* 2001-2009 Military History Museum - Dresden, Germany
* 2002-2010 Creative Media Centre - Hong Kong
* 2005-2010 Złota 44, apartment tower - Warsaw, Poland
* 2005-2011 L Tower and Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Redevelopment - Toronto, Canada
* 2006-2011 Reflections at Keppel Bay, high-rise and low-rise villa apartment blocks - Keppel Bay, Singapore

Proposed/In Design
* 2004-2010 New Center for Arts and Culture - Boston, Massachusetts, United States
* 2004-2014 Fiera Milano - Milan, Italy
* 2005-? Edwards Condominiums, urban infill residential and commercial spaces - Edwards, Colorado, United States
* 2006-? Ørestad Downtown Master Plan, urban development - just south of Copenhagen, Denmark
* 2006-? Rejuvenation, Forest Heights Boys and Girls Club - Gulfport, Mississippi, United States
* 2006-2011 Haeundae Udong Hyundai I'Park, five waterfront towers - Busan, South Korea
* 2006-2013 New Songdo City, shopping mall, department store, cinema, ice rink, food court in Riverstone complex - Incheon, South Korea
* 2004-2010 Editoriale Bresciana Tower, 23-story office and luxury apartment building - Brescia, Italy
* 2007-2009 18.36.54, residence - Connecticut, United States

Unbuilt
* 'The Spiral' extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, was canceled following its failure to attract funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund

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