News & Events
Libeskind Presentation at City Tech on April 7 Draws 700 and Brings Surprise Announcement
From left, Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind, Brooklyn attorney Steven Cohn, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler.
It was “Daniel Libeskind Day in Brooklyn” on Thursday, April 7, when some 700 students, faculty, alumni, community leaders and public officials gathered in City Tech’s Klitgord Center Auditorium to hear the internationally acclaimed architect discuss the human and historical forces that shaped his master plan for the redevelopment of Ground Zero. Libeskind also discussed his designs for the Jewish Museum Berlin and other major world-renowned structures. Joseph Berger, senior reporter on ethnic affairs for The New York Times, introduced Mr. Libeskind.
Libeskind began his talk, which was accompanied by a visual presentation, by announcing that he had been chosen to spearhead the rebuilding of a city in Sri Lanka that was destroyed by the December 2004 earthquake and Tsunami. He then invited students and faculty from City Tech’s architectural technology program to accompany him there and contribute to the project.
“We’ll be meeting soon with Studio Daniel Libeskind to develop this extraordinary opportunity for selected architectural technology department students to work with Mr. Libeskind on this project,” said architect and department chair Tim Maldonado. “Working on real life projects long has been a prominent feature of the program. Students have already contributed design work for the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed in the collapse of the Twin Towers, and for a new surgical hospital in El Salvador. But the opportunity to work with Daniel Libeskind on the rebuilding of an entire city has them more excited and ready to go that any opportunity before it.”
In 2003, Libeskind won the design competition and commission for redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, and first achieved international renown with his design of the Jewish Museum Berlin, a competition he won in 1989. The museum opened in September 2001 on the eve of the terrorist attacks on America.
During his presentation, Libeskind also talked about various events in his own life that shaped his approach to architecture and told the audience that he had reread two documents before beginning work on the master plan for Ground Zero: the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The main structure, the proposed 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, was inspired, he added, by the flame on the Statue of Liberty, which he first observed when he sailed into New York Harbor with his immigrant family at the age of 13.
Considered a major influence on a new generation of architects and others concerned with the future development of cities and culture, Libeskind’s work includes such major projects as The Spiral Extension to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; Maurice Wohl Convention Centre, Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv; the Extension to the Denver Art Museum in Colorado; the Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen; a Post-Graduate Centre at London Metropolitan University; the Extension to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto; and the Military Museum Dresden. He has also designed sets for Wagner’s Ring trilogy at the Covent Garden, London.
A reception for Libeskind and his wife, Nina, who accompanied him, was hosted by City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler and co-ordinated by foundation Executive Jewel Trowers Escobar. It followed the presentation and was attended by 100 students, faculty and community leaders. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz rushed from a previously scheduled engagement to attend the reception, where he commended Libeskind on his highly imaginative and creative work in the field of urban design. During the earlier presentation, Richard Bearak, deputy director of planning and development with Brooklyn Borough Hall, presented Libeskind with a proclamation on behalf of Borough President Markowitz and the people of the borough declaring April 7, 2005, “Daniel Libeskind Day in Brooklyn.”
“We were honored and delighted to have Mr. Libeskind on campus,” said President Hotzler. “This was a wonderful learning opportunity for the students and others in attendance. James Goldman and Albert Sherman of City Tech’s Jewish Faculty & Staff Association have again brought an individual of exceptional renown to campus for the benefit of the entire college community and its MetroTech neighbors. Their efforts greatly enhance the college’s long-standing reputation as an educational and cultural center for the borough.”
The event was hosted by the college’s Jewish Faculty & Staff Association Distinguished Speakers Series in collaboration with neighboring Polytechnic University, American Institute of Architects/New York Chapter, Brooklyn Historical Society, CUNY Institute for Urban Systems, Facing History & Ourselves, Interfaith Committee of Remembrance, Journal of Urban Technology, Society of American Registered Architects/New York Chapter and 27 college-based academic and administrative departments and student/faculty groups.
Concurrent with the April 7 event, City Tech’s Ursula C. Schwerin Library mounted an exhibition, “Daniel Libeskind and the Architecture of Memory,” curated by Library Professor Morris Hounion and Architectural Technology Professor Jill Bouratoglou, which documents Libeskind’s work and runs through the end of April. ADGA Professor MaryAnn Biehl and Luis Garcia, Office of Communications, designed the distinctive posters used to promote the event on campus and community-wide.
04/20/05
Photo by: Al Vargas
