Product Description

Born in communist Poland to Jewish Holocaust survivors, Daniel Libeskind has designed iconic buildings around the world - including the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester and the V&A 'Spiral'. Now he has been chosen as the Master Plan architect for New York's World Trade Center reconstruction - a city of which he has long become, since his boyhood emigration, an adopted son. This is a book about the adventure life can offer each of us if we seize it, and about the powerful forces of tragedy, memory and hope. For Daniel Libeskind, life's adventure has been through architecture, which he has found has the power to reshape human experience. Although often relating to the past, his buildings are about the future. This memoir of one man's journey brings together history, personal experience, our physical environment and a fresh international vision. The world is painfully aware of the World Trade Center tragedy; here are ideas that could form the germ of our emotional, creative and practical response to it - a response that could have truly positive implications for humanity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #844811 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
'Mr Libeskind is at his best here.' -- The Art Newspaper 20041101 'What fuels Libeskind is passion. This is what makes him so skilled at storytelling.' -- Glasgow Herald 20041020 'Sprightly and often fascinating ... A witty insider's take on the convoluted bureaucracy and rampant egos that bedevil any serious contemporary architecture' -- Scotland on Sunday 20041107 'Libeskind ... is a brilliant populist ... [His] genius ... is never more clearly expressed than here in his own words' -- Scottish Sunday Herald 20041107 'This reader was seduced by the clearly unique philosophy of a man who may one day be viewed, without dispute, as a great architect.' -- Blueprint 20041107 'It is a surprisingly engaging and forgiving book.' -- RIBA Journal 20041107 'Powerful stuff, if unsettling'. -- Focus 20050201 'His new book ... illustrates so vividly that life is an exciting adventure which must be seized. ... This memoir of one man's journey brings together history, personal experience, our physical environment and a fresh international vision. ... Breaking Ground is beautifully produced with many remarkable photos of Daniel's work and ideas. You are left with a man whose profession and love of life coincide.' -- Jewish Telegraph 20041107 'A smart, chatty, self-assured survey of his life and work...It's great stuff, and his buildings emerge in a new light' -- Evening Standard 20050822 'His is a brave attempt to reinvent architecture - and one that has succeeded beyond all expectations ... Libeskind likes getting his teeth into the Big Themes ... Which he does, expertly' -- Guardian 'A global star of architecture ... [Breaking Ground] shows the same combination of sharp intelligence ... and straight sentimentality ... that has endeared him to many' -- Time Literary Supplement 20041029 'Just as Libeskind's mind effortlessly zaps back and forth between concrete references and abstract conceptualising, he is as populist as he is highbrow ... Uplifting and fascinating reading' -- Observer 20041029 'One of the most celebrated - and controversial - architects alive. ... He has produced a readable, compelling and highly unorthodox book - part polemic, part celebrity autobiography, part credo ... He really is - as many New Yorkers have come to believe - an architectural visionary.' -- Sunday Telegraph 20041107 'Never have I come across such a lively, totally original, and provocative account of one man's struggle at the cutting edge of architecture.' -- The Spectator 20041107 'His passion is hugely apparent ... even casual readers will find this an extraordinary tale of artistic and personal achievement'. -- Good Book Guide 20050101 'It's as though one is in the presence of a polished conjuror doing fascinating tricks with a pack of cards, making incidents in his life, and in the world, appear and disappear, effortlessly' -- Literary Review 20050205 'Absorbing and well crafted' -- Guardian 20050903 'Fascinating detail' -- Sunday Times 20050925

Time Literary Supplement
'It shows the same combination of sharp intelligence ... and straight sentimentality ... that has endeared him to many'

The Sunday Telegraph
'He has produced a readable, compelling and highly unorthodox book - part polemic, part celebrity autobiography, part credo.'

Customer Reviews

A must for anyone thinking about designing anything!
Essentially a book on architecture, I was moved to tears by almost every chapter. Daniel Libeskind gives us an insight into the huge thinking and commitment that goes into every project that he works on, to him nothing is without meaning and significance, he gives any would-be designer something to aspire to. Contextualised by descriptions of his family's experiences of the holocaust and it's aftermath, his ways of working provided, for me, the most interesting and real insights into recent history I have ever read. This book is truly inspiring.

Top book for anyone! Must read!
Dont listen to anyone who says a bad word about this book! I am a final year archietcture student writing my thesis on symbolism and the memorial. This is a must read book for anyone thats planning to visit the Jewish museum, Berlin, or the the WTC. Its a great insite into Libeksinds mind of the way he depicts his symbolism. However I wouldnt take everything to heart! But this is what modern architecture needs, some great narratives to important monumental buildings. If you have any slight interest in architecture and symbolism you have to buy this! Dont be afraid its and easy read story book, took me 2 days to read!

Pretentious, self-indulgent Nonsense
This is NOT a book about designing anything. This is a book about one petty man's gripes with the world, and his tale of sour grapes about getting and losing the Ground Zero commission. Potential readers should know that Libeskind hired another architect to design his own home. It would be foolish to take this man's ideas about architecture seriously.