AIA UK Film Night: 'Daniel Libeskind: Welcome to the 21st Century'
Daniel Libeskind is one of the most important architects of the 21st century - and one of the most controversial. At once sensual and intellectual, his architecture plays with the geometry of perception. In unifying form and function, his work engages with the philosophical debate surrounding the culture of buildings and their history. The German architect is well known for his modern, if not sometimes radical, designs for buildings throughout Europe and the world. In an interview with Christopher Langer in 1995 Libeskind points out that "I'm not one of those architects that believes that architecture is just a commodity, a disposal item and you should calculate how much it costs to demolish it now because it's going to be demolished tomorrow. I'm not obsessed with technology and all these myths about the future being solved through technological intervention or building. I think one has to worry about what is fable in all this change that is taking place."
The film highlights Libeskind's work and follows the creative process that give rise to his buildings. It throws a special focus on the design of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the debate surrounding The Spiral, the former planned extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.