SPACE June 2023 (No. 667)
New York World Trade Center Master Plan (2003 – ) / Screenshot from YouTube
At the 2023 Spring Annual Conference of AIK held on Apr. 27, Daniel Libeskind gave a special lecture at Bexco, Busan (offline) which was also broadcast live on YouTube (online). The Polish architect Daniel Libeskind gained international fame for his design for the Jewish Museum Berlin (2001). In Korea, beginning with the HDC Headquarters (2005), he carried out several projects such as the Busan Haeundae I’PARK (2007) and the Yongsan International Business District (2008). The theme of the lecture was ‘Space of Encounter’. The lecture began with Libeskind’s explanation of his architectural theory on the Space of Encounter. He focuses on experiencing that which lies beyond simply meeting someone and sharing information in a space. This is because architecture is not simply an abstract concept, but a place where events occur. A French philosopher, Paul Valery, once offered the phrase, ‘The world is threatened by two dangers: orders and disorder’ to express his understanding of architecture as a balancing act between order and disorder. He began the story with participating in the New York World Trade Center Master Plan competition, noting that the day before the opening of the Jewish Museum Berlin was the day of the 9·11 terrorist attack. Amidst various discussions on the social question, ‘what can be built in a land where the memory of a tragedy remains?’ Libeskind proposed to build nothing on the site of the incident. In search of a means for the memory of the tragedy and daily life to coexist, half of the 64,750㎡ site was dedicated to a public space defined as a memorial space. At the same time, it included plans to realise public transportation, including the connection of disconnected street networks while also preparing a new site for the office tower. He said that the plan is being followed based on the master plan that won the competition in 2003, and emphasised that the architecture is not simply a physical structure, but is something which insinuates itself in history both personal and social. Following his World Trade Center Master Plan, he has introduced a number of international projects, including the Military History Museum (Germany, 2011), Nokia Arena and Residential Towers, (Finland, 2010), MO Modern Art Museum (Lithuania, 2018), Reflections & Corals at Keppel Bay (Singapore, 2011). Meanwhile, he raised questions about the identity of Korean architecture by citing the case of Busan Haeundae I’PARK, a project which he provided the design. In addition, he is currently incorporating traditional Korean patterns and Byeong-poongs as design elements at a project called Supyo Tower (scheduled to be completed in 2026) underway in the Cheonggyecheon area in Seoul. He concluded his lecture by expressing his ambitions for Korean architecture of the future based on a sensitivity to region and tradition. by Park Yeeun
