Master to Revive the WTC Site Announced - 11 March, 2003

As it became known, Daniel Libeskind, the architect famous all over the world (has been residing in Berlin within several past years), won a contest for building of the world’s most prestigious ground, the lot where the WTC Towers were destroyed by terrorists on September 11. 

At the contest, Daniel Libeskind was the best among seven famous architects, the authors of many constructions standing all over the world. It is expected that by the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy a giant 541- meter skyscraper will be built on Libeskind’s project on the ground where the WTC stood before the tragedy. The tall building will be certainly registered as an absolute world record. A garden is planned to be laid out on the top of the new building. A memorial to victims of the 9/11 tragedy will be an essential part of the complex. The project is valued at 330 million dollars. 

Now, Berlin has to say goodbye to Libeskind: he and majority of his team are already packing to leave for New York. But the architect’s office in Windscheidstrasse in Charlottenburg will be still operating, and several international projects will be run right from there.

It is true that Daniel Libeskind wasn’t always Berlin’s favorite: first, he lost the contest for construction on Potsdamer Platz; then he was the second in the contest for building on Alexanderplatz (it was a prestigious place, but rather useless from a practical point of view). Daniel Libeskind gained success and recognition after construction of the Jewish Museum in Berlin. And although many critics and officials called the unusual building of the museum a real monster, opinion of the public was different: last year, together with the famous Pergamon Museum, the Jewish Museum became the most visited museum in Berlin. As Libeskind’s popularity grew, he started getting more and more orders for construction of museum complexes in Ontario, London, San-Francisco, Denver, Osnabruck, Manchester, Tel-Aviv. Now it seems the architect has got the most important order of his life. And he truly deserved it.
 
So, architect Daniel Libeskind is leaving Berlin in May, when his daughter completes her ninth grade at school. It is not ruled out that the architect will be back to Germany as it happened in the life of the outstanding man several times already. Indeed, Daniel Libeskind had many places of residence. He was born in Poland’s Lodz in the family of an artist. When the boy was 14, the family moved first to Israel and then to America. Daniel Libeskind is a cosmopolite not only from a geographic point of view, he is cosmopolitan in his art as well. In his early age Libeskind was a child prodigy, and he was predicted a career of a pianist of the universal scale. Daniel’s further passions were graphics, collages, philosophy and finally architecture. 

When Daniel Libeskind learnt he won the contest for construction of a complex on the site of the 9/11 tragedy, he was happy, shocked and devoid of the gift of speech at the same time. For the next ten years Daniel’s life will be dedicated to one idea, he will give New York what he has promised: aspiration and hope for the best, safer future.

Yelena Kanunnikova,
Russian Germany newspaper

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Author`s name Margarita Kicherova
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