Daniel Libeskind will be returning to his native hometown of Łódź, Poland, to create a series of cultural hubs throughout the city.
Dubbed Nexus21, the program features 21 unique interventions — ranging from buildings to urban spaces — to invigorate select neighborhoods spots, spur economic development, and pay tribute to the city's cultural, historical, and industrial heritage including architecture, textiles, fashion, and film.
"The 21 sites, mostly empty blocks and derelict structures, will be revitalized to create point investments that amplify the character and functionality of each site," explains the project description. "The plan targets the spaces in between buildings within the center of the urban plan to create a vibrant nexus between the old and the new while adding value to the historic neighborhoods of Łódź. The aim is to create a chain reaction of development across the city that enriches the public realm."
The first Nexus21 implementation is the new Łódź Architecture Center to be located in the historic city center. The building will house spaces for exhibitions, education, events, and public performances, and aims to become a cultural gateway and destination in itself.
"The Libeskind plan identifies prominent sectors in culture and industry that looks beyond the property lines," said Krzysztof Dudek, Director of the inLodz21 Institution, a Nexus21 co-creator. "By embracing a larger context, these sites take on a range social, environmental, and preservation issues across diverse scales, and, I believe, can illustrate how we can rethink urban regeneration for the future."
Other upcoming developments include a Fashion Innovation Center and the House of the Futures, a hybrid technology center and community forum.
28 Comments
The art of bad architecture. There should be awards for that. Hollywood has the Razzies ...
If there were, Libeskind would have a zigzag shelf full of them.
We will survive and get past Covid. But there's no vaccine to help a city recover from the cancerous effect of a hideous Daniel Libeskind building. He's unfit to live among civilized people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbuncle_Cup
Nothing contributes to the urban fabric and streetscape like a giant, looming glass crystal that feels like it's about to topple over on your head.
Crystals ... that's all the Libeskind jackass understands. If the moron was asked to design a football, it would consist of sharp, pointy spikes protruding from a jagged core. Libeskind disrespects every person and every city the imbecile comes in contact with.
I don’t dislike it. As for his recent work, the MO in Vilnius is better though.
A Daniel Libeskind building is the architectural equivalent of a dog peeing up against a lamp post. It signifies that the dog (Libeskind) was in that place, but it adds nothing to the urban fabric except the foul stench of urine - or in Daniel's case, a crass, vulgar pile of meaningless zigzag crap that ruins the historic setting. By now, even the people of Lodz must see this aesthetically ignorant clown for the buffoon he truly is. - For the sake of Lodz, I pray this crap never gets built.
Wow dude did he fire you or something? Steal your girlfriend? Your post history is hilarious.
You win this thread!
must be really boring working with him, always recycling the same building
^ This. I thought, "Wait... isn't this already built in Toronto or Berlin or someplace else? Those earlier projects' shock value becomes neutered when you plop yet another one down in yet another city. Sort of like Gehry, but with razor-sharp points and planes replacing the swoops and curves.
I think its worse than shock value since he became famous for justifying jaggedy forms by harkening to the real historical tragedy of the holocaust. The Jewish Museum in Berlin built his reputation - his "analysis" supposedly yielded the form of that building. Only for the same forms to be regurgitated in malls, offices, museums all over the world. Libeskind is a giant of appealing to emotion to win commissions.
It's a shame because the Jewish Museum - imo - was a fantastic building. His work since has been so unnecessarily similar it's kind of retroactively weakened the original.
I passed by his Jewish Museum in Berlin 2 years ago and for me it really wasn't any weaker than when I visited it like over a decade ago. True, the first time I saw it and went in it was really impressive, but seeing it again was like meeting an old friend, a lot had happened since (some good, some bad) but the click was there...or something (just had a Merlot).
man, that’s one fugly building.
'Fugly' is all Daniel Libeskind and his staff do. The idea of relating to the context or being harmonious is lost on these amateur hacks.
There’s more than one context one can relate to, and what Libeskind has achieved is a renewed appreciation for all the adjacent buildings ;-)
@Randomised .... That’s like saying - “I really appreciated that the dog crapped all over my garden. It helped me achieve a renewed appreciation for the perfumed scent of all the adjacent flowers.”
Can't fully appreciate the highs without the lows...but overall I believe Łódź will improve from an urban perspective by involving Libeskind.
It’s entirely possible to appreciate the highs without any awareness of the lows. Would you swallow a handful of broken glass because it made you more appreciative of eating a fillet mignon afterwards?
You need a palet cleanser now and then...
Some people like sipping an aperatif of cat piss to help them savor the wine with the main course.
Actually, this is fairly reserved compared to a lot we've seen. Apparently it is developing unused or derelict space. And it will be one note in a larger composition of other projects.
"The plan targets the spaces in between buildings within the center of the urban plan to create a vibrant nexus between the old and the new while adding value to the historic neighborhoods of Łódź. The aim is to create a chain reaction of development across the city that enriches the public realm."
And I'll reserve judgment. I'm curious to see the other projects and want to know whether not the projects actually work. There's a larger issue here, how to keep our cities active and vital.
Collectively these buildings will create a new context to set against the old. Success will depend on program, what these buildings do, whether or not they serve the areas and draw people, who they draw (other than tourists).
I'm skeptical of course.
What kind of shape is Łódź in? I have no idea.
I remember being struck by how ill-fitting the ordinary entrance doors are at the ROM in Toronto. It's like "Mall, meet Space Ship."
Agree. The ROM manages to be the worst among Libeskind’s portfolio of vulgar, crass, hideous work. - “ The most pointed critique came in the final days of 2009, courtesy of Philip Kennicott, art and architecture critic (and future Pulitzer Prize winner) at The Washington Post. “Sure, there were a lot of Wal-Marts thrown up in the Aughts, but Daniel Libeskind’s addition to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto surpasses the ugliness of bland functional buildings by being both ugly and useless,” he wrote. Kennicott named the Crystal the worst example of architecture of the 2000s.”
Nexus21 will change how Łódź sees itself, its past, present, and future, in ways we can't predict until the rest are built. I am really curious/I can see many ways the project can run astray.
This one will recall the Jewish museum for some, and Libeskind, once Polish, is Jewish. Memories will be revived in a country with a horribly difficult history in this regard. The building intrudes, fractures, yet joins and stands assertive. The design is light, dynamic, but not overwhelming, not tragic. It sounds a note. I don't dislike it.
Execution, as citizen notes, will be everything.
ROM fails for many reasons, in part because its metaphor was so thin, unrelated significantly to program, then was allowed to run wild.
The Canadian holocaust monument is pretty good. I used to, pre covid times, pass by it every day on my way to the office. His ROM in toronto is striking from far, but the dynamic of the exterior makes for a very poor interior space. This new one is just meh. Could be better, but who knows, maybe the client asked for his special no.2 with extra large fries. I like to think Libeskind has a (million) dollar menu like McDonalds.
If only his menu had more than one option ...
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