Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2011 | Page 16

“Saarinen had great ideas and he understood human scale remarkably well,”
Libeskind marvels. He is well-versed with
Saarinen’s work in Finland, too, and has dug
deep into the roots of Finnish urban design,
citing such Saarinen efforts as Munkkiniemi-Haaga plan from 1915.
Another bright star on Libeskind’s sky
is Alvar Aalto, who recently had a “second
coming” of sorts as a new university was
launched bearing his name. Dubbed as the
“innovation university,” the school combines design edge with technology and business savvy. Against this background, it is no
wonder that Libeskind was invited to give a
speech at the school in spring of 2010.

Aalto’s Legacy
Libeskind believes that the university is off
to a good start and will truly blossom in the
years to come. He is also glad to see the
core of the university located at the Otaniemi campus which was designed by Aalto
himself.
The original vision of Aalto featured
red-brick buildings in a green Finnish forest,
but Libeskind says that the new university
should not feel bound by the old designs to
such a degree that natural evolution of the
campus comes to a halt.
“Alvar Aalto was a genius, but I’m sure
he wouldn’t mind if someone were to introduce new buildings into the area as well. In
fact, if the work is creative enough, it can actually help highlight Aalto’s designs.”

North Star Calling
But what is it about Finland that keeps producing superior architects and design? Libeskind admits that the answer to the question
appears to be shrouded by mystery, but he
takes a stab at the answer.
Libeskind observes that the Finnish national psyche is a rare one; standing alone
in the north, a small country surrounded by
great powers. Even after having won its independence, the country had to struggle for
its survival.
“In such an atmosphere, it is easy
enough to believe that some of her citizens
would come to develop a strong sense of independence on the individual level, a spiritual kind of independence, even.”
Of course, armed with this kind of
mindset, creative people would be able to
hold on to their vision no matter what – they
could not be turned around by opinions of
others.
“You see this already in the old rural
villages, in the traditions of craftsmen and
artisans who had their own ways of working,” Libeskind says, commenting that the
emergence of Finnish architects on the
world scene can be seen as continuation of
the same arc. And, of course, there is something about the “spirit of the North” that stirs
14 Nordicum

Libeskind:
Strategic
Dreamer
aniel Libeskind is
perhaps the world’s
most notable authority on architectural practice and urban design. He
is well known for introducing a new critical discourse
into architecture and also
for his multidisciplinary
approach. Libeskind’s projects extend from building
museums and concert halls
to convention centres, universities and hotels.
Born in post-war Poland in 1946, Libeskind became an American citizen
in 1965. His first love was
for music and he became
a virtuoso accordion player. Having “exhausted the instrument,” he left music to study architecture, receiving his professional architectural degree in 1970.
Libeskind’s career really took off in 1989, as he won the competition for the
Jewish Museum in Berlin. Son of two Holocaust survivors, Libeskind designed a
museum which opened in September 2001 to wide public acclaim.
While Berlin made Libeskind well-known in the professional circuit, he didn’t
become internationally famous until February 2003 when he won the World Trade
Center design competition. Libeskind was appointed as the master plan architect
for the site in New York City.
The Ground Zero project has special significance for Libeskind also in the
sense that he grew up in New York, watching the original twin towers being built.
The new area, called Memory Foundations, is currently under construction.
At present, Studio Daniel Libeskind has over 40 active projects around the
world. b

D

creative passions to produce often unexpected results.

Helsinki WDC 2012
With forty years of history between them,
Libeskind was thrilled to see Helsinki grab
World Design Capital 2012 honours.
“It is one of the few cities who truly deserve it,” he says. For Libeskind, the
“Pearl of the Baltic” is in the league of its
own – and for this reason, the architect has
taken a special interest in its development.
One of the latest issues to catch his
eye was the controversy over the proposed
downtown hotel, with Swiss architecture
agency Herzog & de Meuron calling the
shots. According to the plan, the “design hotel” was supposed to be located at the waterfront a stone’s throw away from Presidential
Palace, but the heated feedback from various authorities, associations and citizens has
derailed the project.
Libeskind is of the opinion that the de-

velopment of the waterfront would benefit
from a more grassroots perspective – one
should ask what the citizens want from their
waterfront, instead of how to best benefit the
hotel business.
“Helsinki needs to see new activity in
the waterfront, something which takes into
account the changing needs of the people.
It should be a place for families.”

Water Dance
Libeskind would like to see the vacant lot
and the neighbouring areas as a kind of floating pavilion which would help introduce a
new kind of waterfront ideology, one that
is very much rooted on “the pedestrian experience”.
He observes that all the makings of a
success story are already in place: the beautiful market square, the seats of government,
the Esplanade...
“All one needs to do now is to bring
out the magic of the waterfront.” b