Daniel Libeskind on memory and physical spaces

World-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind believes that architecture is a humanistic discipline grounded in history and tradition. In this interview^1., he shares the importance of memory to the design of physical spaces and what it means to design for the past and future.

Daniel Libeskind © Urban Redevelopment Authority Singapore

Daniel Libeskind believes that architecture is a humanistic discipline grounded in history and tradition, as told to writer Stanley Meisler of the Smithsonian Magazine.

An academic until age 43 and informed by a deep commitment to music, philosophy, literature and poetry, Daniel’s many projects from the Jewish Museum in Berlin to the World Trade Centre site not only draw from the social and historical contexts of sites, they tell a story and evoke cultural memories that reach out to humanity.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin which opened in 2001 was Daniel’s first major project and a series of influential museum commissions followed after that. In 2003, his firm, Studio Libeskind won another historic competition to create the master plan for the rebuilding of the World Trade Centre in New York. Over half of the 16-acre site was given to public space including the memorial which opened in 2014.

Why is memory important in the design of physical spaces?

Daniel Libeskind (DL): I consider memory the foundation of architecture. It is memory that creates orientation and gives us a sense of connection between traditions of the past, the present and the future. Memory is key to all my work. When you deal with places of memory, you have to be able to transmit something beyond the past. You have to transmit the hopes of the future. You have to structure the spaces in such a way that it has the equivalent to the complexity of the human spirit and mind. Without memory, we would not know who we are or where we are going.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin © Studio Libeskind

Why is designing museums and memorials important to you?

DL: I have had the good fortune of being able to work on many cultural institutions and memorials around the world dealing with different kinds of memories. In a way, these spaces are a core part of our lives. We might have spaces that cater to our domestic arrangements such as places to work in, places to go to. But in the end, to find who we are, why we are here and where we are going, you need a place of encounter, not just a space with a social realm, but a space that really forms our identities.

What contributes to our sense of place?

DL: Our sense of place is about being human. Animals have nests and burrows. Only human beings have something more than a habitat. They have a home. There is a difference between a habitat and a home, just as there is a difference between biology and the human spirit. This is the profound aspect of being involved in architecture and creating a place. You are creating a home which goes beyond the physical necessities of life. It is not about how many square metres of space you have – it is about the quality of that space.

"The Chinese have the concept of the unseen unicorn. The idea is that the unicorn is ever present, but most people only see the white horse. They do not see the unicorn that is hidden and in proximity." — Daniel Libeskind

How do you go about understanding the essence of a place?

DL: You have to know what surrounds you by putting your head and ears on the earth in order to listen, not only to the voices around you but to the inaudible voices. You have to use your eyes to see the invisible parts of the site, not just what you can photograph with your camera. This is the kind of connection that you should search for when you work on a project.

The Chinese have the concept of the unseen unicorn. The idea is that the unicorn is ever present, but most people only see the white horse. They do not see the unicorn that is hidden and in proximity.

So the site in the same way is like the invisible unicorn. It is there and is ever present, but is camouflaged by our expectations. You have to open up to the unexpected. If you do not expect the unexpected, you will miss it – it will just go by you! And that is the time that triggers the eureka moment.

In our need to retain our heritage and cater for the future, how can we manage change?

DL: The key to managing change is lodged in the human heart. We must stay connected to where we are – the sky, the earth, the uniqueness of the genius loci (protective spirit of a place) which is not exchangeable with anything else. The challenge is in taking into account the story that has developed from before we were born into something that will represent future generations. It is about how to shape developments in a way that is inspiring to a child that is just born, who is emerging into the world and still find the world open and free.

The concrete slurry wall in the World Trade Centre site serving as memory to the site © Studio Libeskind

For projects with significant public impact such as the new World Trade Centre where you were the master planner for the site, how did you see your role in managing competing views?

DL: I am a great believer in democracy. Every one of my large projects had been in the centre of the public realm. It was engaged in often very tense and fractious public discourse. But without engagement, the project would mean nothing. A project like Ground Zero would never be done if one did not garner extremely competing views. There were very different views on what to do there. Almost every stakeholder had another view.

As the master planner of the site, I worked to bring people together, not just with an architect there but with a place. What does the place mean? What does the event mean? How do we give hope after such a catastrophic event? How can we develop the city to be full of optimism and beauty, while using memory as a fulcrum of the experience?

At the centre of your master plan for the new World Trade Centre site is the retention of the concrete foundation walls that survived. This huge slurry wall has become a symbolic hero.

DL: The wall was a key concept in my masterplan. It is an engineering marvel and represents the strength of the human spirit in the face of tragedy. I thought people should experience the bedrock where the tragedy happened. This is also the foundation from where all the buildings rise up. Opening this foundation to the public view was challenging in every way. Because when you have a foundation, you usually put something on top of it. Exposing it has never been done before in history. It is only in ruins that you can see open foundations but this is a living foundation.

I was very moved when Pope Francis came to New York to give a key address in 2015 and he made this address in front of this wall to the world. He did not choose Times Square. He did not choose the Central Park. He did not choose the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. He chose this wall. This is because the walls have a voice. And it is that voice that also resonates in the invisible aspect of New York and the skies of New York in supporting the buildings surrounding the site.

It is very important to imbue the site with symbolic and democratic meanings and a sense of the future, a very beautiful future so that the world moves into the light and not into the darkness.

In designing for the future, what is one thing architects and designers should do more of and one thing less of?

DL: They should be more open to the wonders of the world. One should be astonished by science, beauty, art, technological advancements, history, which has the power to show us what the whole trajectory is and can be. What should be avoided is to diminish ambitions. To mediocritise and level everything into a sort of common denominator instead of opening it up to the highest expectations.

Daniel Libeskind is a Polish-American architect, artist, professor and set designer. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect. He is known for the design and completion of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, that opened in 2001.

1.: This article is adapted from and was first published in Skyline Issue 12, 2020 © Urban Redevelopment Authority Singapore. For more features and insights on Singapore’s latest urban developments, go to Skyline ↗ (opens in new tab).