Architect · Poland / United States · Born 1946
Daniel Libeskind Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Polish-born American architect, born in 1946, known for the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Imperial War Museum North and the master plan for the World Trade Center site.
Photo: Bundeswehr-Fotos, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Daniel Libeskind (born 1946) is a Polish-born American architect whose angular, fractured buildings often deal with memory and history. After two decades as a teacher and theorist known for his drawings, he won the competition for the Jewish Museum Berlin in 1989, and he went on to design museums, concert halls and towers around the world and the master plan for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site in New York.
Łódź, Israel and New York
Libeskind was born in Łódź, Poland, in 1946 to parents who had survived the Holocaust. The family moved to Israel in 1957 and to New York in 1959. A gifted accordion player, he turned from music to architecture, graduating from the Cooper Union in 1970, and studied history and theory of architecture at the University of Essex.
Teacher and theorist
From 1978 to 1985 he headed the architecture department of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, and his drawing series Micromegas and Chamber Works made him a figure of architectural theory. In 1988 he took part in the Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition at MoMA.
The Jewish Museum Berlin
Libeskind won the Jewish Museum competition in 1989 and founded Studio Libeskind in Berlin. The zinc-clad building, with its zigzag plan, voids and Holocaust Tower, was completed in 1999 and opened with its exhibition in 2001.
Museums and Ground Zero
His later works include the Felix Nussbaum Haus in Osnabrück, the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester (2002), the Hamilton Building of the Denver Art Museum (2006), the Royal Ontario Museum Crystal in Toronto (2007) and the Military History Museum in Dresden (2011). In 2003 he won the master plan competition for the World Trade Center site, and Studio Libeskind moved to New York.
Edge of Order
Libeskind’s own book on the ideas behind his work, from music and memory to the Jewish Museum and Ground Zero.
View on AmazonTimeline
- 1946Born on 12 May in Łódź, Poland.
- 1959Moves with his family to New York.
- 1970Graduates from the Cooper Union.
- 1978Becomes head of architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
- 1989Wins the Jewish Museum Berlin competition and founds Studio Libeskind.
- 2001The Jewish Museum Berlin opens to the public.
- 2002Imperial War Museum North opens in Manchester.
- 2003Wins the master plan competition for the World Trade Center site.
- 2006Hamilton Building of the Denver Art Museum.
- 2011Military History Museum in Dresden.
Best Books on Daniel Libeskind
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Daniel Libeskind known for?
Daniel Libeskind is known for the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Imperial War Museum North, the Denver Art Museum’s Hamilton Building, the Royal Ontario Museum Crystal and the master plan for the World Trade Center site.
What is special about the Jewish Museum Berlin?
Its zigzag plan, empty voids, Holocaust Tower and Garden of Exile make the building itself an experience of absence and history.
Is Daniel Libeskind a deconstructivist?
He was one of the seven architects in MoMA’s 1988 Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition, and his angular, fractured forms are associated with the movement.
Did Daniel Libeskind design One World Trade Center?
No. Libeskind won the 2003 master plan for the World Trade Center site; One World Trade Center itself was designed by SOM.
What is the best book on Daniel Libeskind?
Edge of Order (2018), written by Libeskind, explains his ideas and buildings. Daniel Libeskind: Jewish Museum Berlin (Prestel) is a short guide to his best-known work.
