DANIEL LIBESKIND: ARCHITECT FOR THE ARTIFACTS

 Walk of Fame | Annabelle Kolomeisky 

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When people think about museums, the first things that often comes to mind are the histories and objects that are housed within the institution. People less often appreciate the beauty and thought that goes into the outside of these buildings even though the architecture of a museum often plays a significant role as the reflection of the institution and the content that the museum displays. One incredible example of how architecture can reflect the themes of a museum is the design of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, California, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.

Exterior of the Contemporary Jewish Museum Extension | Source

In 1998, architect Daniel Libeskind was invited to design a new home for the Contemporary Jewish Museum. The new design was to complement the already existing Jessie Street Pacific Gas & Electric Power Substation and repurpose the building to become a space to promote community activity and to celebrate Jewish culture.

Throughout the architectural design of the museum, one can find many artistic representations of core Jewish values and beliefs. At the entrance of the museum, there is a very large and dramatic wall that greets visitors with the Hebrew acronym PRDS. This stands for the Hebrew word pardes, meaning orchard, but more specifically, the term refers to the four approaches towards interpreting the Torah.

Inside the Yud Gallery | Source

Another very significant symbolic representation of Judaism seen in the design of the building can be found in the Stephan and Maribelle Leavitt Yud Gallery. The concept of the gallery was to imitate the form of the Hebrew letter yud, which is the only floating letter in the language’s alphabet. The letter has a very strong connection to a central concept in Judaism, chai, meaning life. Chai, comprised of the Hebrew letter chet and yud, can be represented by multiples of 18 due to the numerological connection between the letters that comprise the word. Within this gallery there are 36 small rectangular windows representing double chai, which is considered to be good luck. 

The architect behind this beautiful building, Daniel Libeskind, was born in Lodz, Poland on May 12, 1946 to two Jewish parents immediately after the Second World War. Both his parents were arrested by Soviet officials in 1939 and spent majority of the war in Soviet prison camps. As a child, Libeskind faced horrible antisemitism in post-war Poland, leading his family to eventually move to Israel. In 1965, Daniel Libeskind moved once again, but this time to the United States of America to study architecture at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan. It was during his studies in New York that he met his wife and partner in architecture, Nina Lewis. After completing his first degree, he continued studying, earning his master’s degree in the history and theory of architecture from the University of Essex. With his education behind him, Libeskind finally emerged as a notable architect after winning a design competition alongside his partner Nina Libeskind for the Jewish Museum Berlin in 1989.
 

Daniel Libesking standing before the Bundeswehr Military History Museum | Source

Libeskind is very well known for his numerous achievements among the architecture community for his work such as the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the National Holocaust Memorial in Ottawa, and even the design for the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal extension of the Royal Ontario Museum. Libeskind is an innovative and creative architect whose work can be appreciated all around the world. To see more of Daniel Libeskind’s architectural work and learn more about him you can visit his website and browse all of his amazing designs from around the world.

 

 

 

FRANK GEHRY: UNIQUE TO SAY THE LEAST

Walk of Fame | Martin Bierens

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I find that perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of a visitor’s experience to the museum is the building itself. People may go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, or the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone, but are they not also there to be in the space itself? After all, would the Louvre be the same without I. M. Pei’s Pyramid or the grand columns of the British Museum?

In a round-about way, Toronto actually has had a massive influence on museum architecture of the last half-century. Toronto is the birthplace of world-famous architect Frank Gehry, granted he now lives and works in California (but hey, so does Neil Young and we still claim him).

Frank Gehry (Source)

Frank Gehry was born Frank Owen Goldberg in 1929. He spent his childhood in the city and even as a child he showed a propensity for architecture. Young Gehry would use everyday material such as chain-link fencing, plywood, and corrugated steel to make small structures at his grandfather’s hardware store. Gehry’s use of steel is an aspect of his work that has persisted and has become one of the defining characteristics of his work.

It is somewhat difficult to put into words Gehry’s architectural style, his work has long been touted to defy categorization. Personally, as someone who has no academic background in architecture the best way, I would describe Gehry’s buildings as melting, flowing, futuristic, behemoth, spaceship-like structures. Once you become familiar with Gehry’s work it is very easy to identify that it could only be made by one man.

Guggenheim Bilbao (Source)

Some of his most prominent buildings are museums. He designed the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, arguably his most famous structure along with the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Other museums include the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, France, the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany, the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, the Biomuseo in Panama City, Panama, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, the MARTa Herford Museum in Herford, Germany, and the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

AGO, Galleria Italia (Source)

Those of us in Toronto are most familiar with his large-scale redesign of the Art Gallery of Ontario. The redesign of the AGO is actually not typical of Gehry’s work. Rather than his typical steel structures, the AGO features mostly laminated wood and glass as its main architectural components. The only typical Gehry-esque feature is the exterior staircase on the south side of the building. The atypical design is in part a result of the AGO’s goal, the museum did not want to construct a new building, rather expand on an existing building that had previously been expanded on six times since the 1920s. Gehry had the difficult task of combining a patchwork of structures into a cohesive whole.

This was achieved through a few additions to the building. The most prominent is the new façade of the building, the 200-metre Galleria Italia along Dundas Street. Other notable areas are the staircase in the Walker Court and the entrance along Dundas. Gehry moved the entrance to this location in order to help with the symmetry of the building, this area also features the unique wheelchair ramp from street level toward the ticket area.

Over his career Gehry’s work has generally received much critical acclaim, the AGO was no different. The Toronto Star called the redesign, “the easiest, most effortless and relaxed architectural masterpiece this city has seen,” while The New York Times' architecture critic, Nicolai Ouroussoff, wrote of the AGO as, “Rather than a tumultuous creation, this may be one of Mr. Gehry's most gentle and self-possessed designs. It is not a perfect building, yet its billowing glass façade, which evokes a crystal ship drifting through the city, is a masterly example of how to breathe life into a staid old structure.”

Rendering of Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (Source)

Even though Gehry is now 91 years old, he is still involved in his practice at Gehry Partners LLP. Though due to his age it is likely that the planned Guggenheim Abu Dhabi may be his final museum. If this is the case, the scale and grandiosity of the structure will be a fitting end to an illustrious career.

ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE AS CINEMATIC HERO AND VILLAIN

HERITAGE MOMENTS

BY: JOCELYN KENT

While summer blockbusters have a tendency to obliterate architectural landmarks with high explosives, it seems to like a good time to reflect on the more constructive ways architecture has shaped cinematic story telling.

Heritage buildings are regularly used for television and movie sets because they easily create a sense of time, place and atmosphere that is costly to achieve in studio.

But, architectural heritage doesn't have to be just backdrop, or even a real place. It can become a character or plot point unto itself. In today's Heritage Moments, we take a look at films in which built heritage or its preservation has played into the storyline, whether for good or ill.

Beware, spoilers ahead!

THE GOOD

1. BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

The Hill Valley clock tower plays a pivotal role in the film’s climax when it's struck by lightning, providing the enough electricity to send Marty McFly and his time-traveling DeLorean back to 1985.

The power of 1.21 gigawatts! Source.

But, as Doc points out, one can never predict when or where lightning will strike. So how do they figure it out, and ultimately prevent Marty from being stuck in the past?

It all comes down to the advocacy of the Hill Valley Preservation Society.

#Clockblocked. Source.

In the beginning of the film, when Marty is still safe and sound in 1985, a local heritage activist confronts him for a donation to help protect the clock (fused solid since the lightning strike) from being replaced by city council.

Heritage campaigns can be so gruelling. Source. 

Her “Save the Clock Tower” flyer - which travels back to 1955 in Marty’s pocket - provides Marty and Doc with the crucial information about the timing of the lightning strike they need to know to get Marty back to the future.

2. NANCY DREW (2007)

When teen super detective Nancy Drew moves to Los Angeles with her father, she arranges to move into a Hollywood mansion connected to the unsolved murder of a famous starlet, to keep herself occupied.

Sleuthing in progress. Source.

Nancy’s love of the past is the key to her success, giving her insights others lack. Her knowledge of classic West Coast architecture in particular helps her snoop around unseen, escape kidnappers, and uncover hidden passageways at several points in the film.

Nancy isn't particularly surprised to find a secret door in her bedroom closet either. Source.

Somehow she manages to do it all without getting her tasteful penny loafers and vintage beige capri pant suit dirty.

One part Girl Guide, one part Batman. Source.

Her love of architecture also adds to her know-it-all credentials.

Did I mention that she likes architecture? Source.

3. THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014)

A zany celebration of nostalgia and Old World charm. The Grand Budapest Hotel presents two, nested frame narratives, as a famous novelist describes his meeting Zero Mustafa - the elderly owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel - in 1968, who in turn describes how he came to work there thirty-five years before.

The Grand Budapest in its prime; looks good enough to eat. Source.

Despite the hotel's prestigious past, it is shown to have fallen into disrepair following the violence and upheavals of the mid-20th century. Now only a shadow of its former self, Zero struggles to maintain the hotel, stating that it is his last reminder of his happier youth.

The lobby in the 1932, its glory days. Source.

The lobby in the 1968, much diminished. Source.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is itself a character in the story. Much like the head concierge, Monsieur Gustave, the hotel is portrayed as charming, professional, esteemed, and endearing to those who know it, a symbol of a bygone age. Much like Zero, it suffers the passage of time as well.

"Very good." Source.

THE BAD

4. THE SHINING (1980)

The evil twin of The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Shining chronicles the Torrance family’s term as winter caretakers of the remote Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies.

The Timberline Lodge, used for exterior shots. Rustic Cascadian architecture in all its horror. Source.

Snowed-in for the season with his wife and son, Jack Torrance is slowly driven insane by the cavernous and storied hotel – a Progressive Era artifact. Whether his breakdown is purely cabin fever or driven by the ghosts of the Overlook's past is never made clear.

No one likes to drink alone. Source.

The Overlook itself is attributed a malevolent personality, one continually reinforced by the lonely and disconcerting interiors.

At least the wood flooring doesn't creak. Source.

Director Stanley Kubrick famously had the entire Overlook set built in studio rather than using an existing hotel, so that he could add strange doors, foreshortened walls, and bizarre transitions between rooms, to enhance the confusing atmosphere. He even hired the inventor of the Steadicam, Garrett Brown, to help him film smooth transitions from room to room.

Vroom vroom! Source.

5. HOT FUZZ (2007)

Although initially suspecting a financial motivation for a series of murders in the sleepy village of Sandford, Sergeant Nick Angel discovers that a fanatical civic association – the Neighborhood Watch Alliance (NWA) – is behind the crimes. Its goal: to ensure that Sanford wins the Village of the Year award by killing problematic residents.

They also killed Eve Draper for her annoying laugh and Tim Messenger for his typos. Source.

Beyond the NWA’s zealous pursuit of aesthetic consistency and the restoration of the church roof, the architectural theme of Hot Fuzz is reinforced by the frequent appearance of miniature buildings – a play on Sandford’s desire to been seen as a “model village.”

Those crenellations look sharp! Source.

This culminates in a Godzilla-esque clash between Sgt. Angel and the NWA.

"You want to be a big cop in a small town? Head up to the model village." Source.

YOUR TURN: 

Do you have a favourite film or television episode that would fit within this list? Share it below in the comments.