Daniel Libeskind
Daniel Libeskind
Daniel Libeskind
-- Daniel Libeskind
OVERVIEW
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
Libeskind, a theoretician and
intellectual, considered these
matters in great depth. Viewing
the structure inside and out is akin
to immersion in a huge piece of
sculpture. Libeskind‘s sense of
space and light and volume is
calculated and precise. It is
astounding to learn that this was
his first building.
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL
SITE
The site is the new-old center of Berlin on Linderstrasse. Libeskind at the same time felt
there was an invisible matrix of connections between the figures of Jews and Germans.
Libeskind plotted an “irrational matrix” which resembled a distorted star: the yellow
star that was worn often on this very site.
CONCEPT STRUCTURE
To give dimension to the deported and missing Berliners Libeskind inspired by the
‘Gedenbuch’ which contains all the names, dates of births, and places/dates of
deporation and/or deaths.
Incorporated Walter Benjamin’s text ‘One Way Street’ into the continuous sequence of
60 sections along the zigzag, each representing of the ‘Stations of the Star’.
PROGRAM
The Jewish Museum goes under the
existing building and crisscrosses
underground. Externally the buildings are
independent of one another.
The first and longest of these axes is the "Axis of Continuity." It connects the Old Building
with the main staircase (Sackler Staircase) which leads up to the exhibition levels. The
architect describes the Axis of Continuity as the continuation of Berlin's history, the
connecting path from which the other axes branch off.
The "Axis of Emigration" leads outside to daylight and the Garden of Exile. On the way
there, the walls are slightly slanted and close in the further one goes, while the floor is
uneven and ascends gradually. A heavy door must be opened before the crucial step into
the garden can be taken.
The "Axis of the Holocaust" is a dead end. It becomes ever narrower and darker and ends at
the Holocaust Tower. The glass cases on the way display documents and personal
possessions testifying to the private and public life of their owners who were killed.
All three of the underground axes intersect, symbolizing the connection between the three
realities of Jewish life in Germany.
Cutting through the form of the Jewish Museum is a void; a straight line forms the
space the exhibitions are organized around. Visitors cross sixty bridges to cross from
one space to another. Zigzag best describes the form: two linear structures, combined to
form the body of the building.
The Jewish Museum is a triumph for Libeskind's debut work and a gift of surpassing
splendor for Jews and non-Jews alike, for Berliners, and for visitors from the world over,
for whom this building has already become a destination of pilgrimage.