Not Square: The Frederic C. Hamilton Building at the Denver Art Museum

A catalog of the the first ten years of exhibits of the Frederic C. Hamilton Building, Not Square explores the impact of Daniel Libeskind’s revolutionary design on the curation of art. The book details how initial skepticism of the utility of the interior space’s complex geometry was proven wrong as the building has played host to various forms of art that–regardless of temporality or origin–have found a home in the Frederic C. Hamilton Building.

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New Museums: Intentions, Expectations, Challenges

“The past decade was characterised by a real museum boom which persists today. Throughout the world museums have been built that are as unique as the art they contain, and the process continues.” A selection of museum projects, both built and un-built were on display at the Musée d’art et d’histoire de Genève, Switzerland, from May 11, 2017 – October 8, 2017

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Jewish Museum Berlin

Berlin, Germany Completed

The Jewish Museum Berlin, which opened to the public in 2001, exhibits the social, political and cultural history of the Jews in Germany from the fourth century to the present, explicitly presenting and integrating, for the first time in postwar Germany, the repercussions of the Holocaust. The new building is housed next to the site of the original Prussian Court of Justice building which was completed in 1735 now serves as the entrance to the new building. Daniel Libeskind’s design, which was created a year before the Berlin Wall came down, was based on three insights:  it is impossible to…

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Fiftieth Anniversary of Le Corbusier’s Passing – Homage to Le Corbusier

Fiftieth anniversary of Le Corbusier’s passing Homage to Le Corbusier 05/06/2015 – 27/09/2015 On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Le Corbusier (1887-1965), ten architects among the most important of our time propose their vision of a project for the extension of the Villa “Le Lac”. Daniel Libeskind, Mario Botta, Zaha Hadid, Toyo Ito, SANAA, Rudy Ricciotti, Bernard Tschumi, Gigon/Guyer, Rafael Moneo et Alvaro Siza lent themselves to this stimulating competition for ideas and imagination. The exhibition displays their contributions as well as some superb drawings of the Villa “Le Lac” by Le Corbusier, and photographs…

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Ngaren

Kenya In design

World-renowned Paleoanthropologist Dr. Richard Leakey commissioned Studio Libeskind to create an unprecedented science museum dedicated to the story of humankind. Sited on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Rift Valley—the cradle of humankind and where Leakey first discovered the most complete skeleton of early man, Turkana Boy. The design is inspired by the forms of ancient hand axes that were the first tools of early man marking the beginnings of human ingenuity. The monolithic volumes rise like vertical stalactite set against the dramatic landscape of greater Nairobi in Loodariak. Through a series of interactive, cutting-edge exhibition spaces, Ngaren will…

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Museum of Zhang Zhidong

Wuhan, China Completed

Located at the site of Wuhan’s old steelworks, Studio Libeskind’s design is a sweeping ark-like structure that is hoisted above the surrounding plaza by two steel and glass structures. The gravity defying form is clad in geometric steel panels, reminiscent of the industries’ past.  Once inside, visitors climb the main staircase that connects to the exhibition spaces above where they are divided into four themes about the accomplishments and ideas surrounding the life of Zhang Zhidong. The exhibition also includes various collaborations with local artists who explore aspects of the differing themes through installations and interactive works of art. On…

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Tikva – Jewish Museum Lisbon

Lisbon, Portugal In design

Entitled Tikva, which means Hope in Hebrew, the Jewish Museum Lisbon will portray the history of the Jewish presence in the territory that is now Portugal, namely in Lisbon, and will share the contribution of the Jews by showing that the Jewish heritage is an indissoluble part of the country’s history. It intends to preserve and divulge Jewish memory and experience and to value cultural differences, thus promoting inter-religious integration. The Museum will be located in Belém of Lisbon, Portugal and is currently in design.

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Royal Ontario Museum

Toronto, Canada Completed

The extension to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), now named the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, is situated at one of the most prominent intersections in downtown Toronto. It is the largest Museum in Canada and attracts more than a million visitors a year. Its new name is derived from the building’s five intersecting metal-clad volumes, which are reminiscent of crystals—inspired by the crystalline forms in the ROM’s mineralogy galleries. Libeskind created a structure of organically interlocking prismatic forms turning this important corner of Toronto, and the entire museum complex, into a luminous beacon. The design succeeds at inviting glimpses up, down,…

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Kurdistan Museum

Erbil, Iraq In design

The site of the new Kurdistan Museum will be the first major institution to dedicate itself to the preservation and education of the Kurds’ national heritage to the region and the world. In collaboration with the Kurdistan Regional Government and client representative RWF World, the team has embarked on a visionary project to share the story of the Kurdish people with the world and inspire an open dialogue for the future generations within Kurdistan. Situated at the base of the ancient Citadel, in the center of Erbil, Iraq, the 150,000 square-foot museum will feature exhibition spaces for both permanent and…

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Imperial War Museum North

Manchester, United Kingdom Completed

The Imperial War Museum North (IWMN) in Manchester, England, tells the story of how war has affected the lives of British and the Commonwealth citizens since 1914. The design concept is a globe shattered into fragments and then reassembled. The interlocking of three of these fragments—representing earth, air, and water—comprise the building’s form. The Earth Shard forms the museum space, signifying the open, earthly realm of conflict and war; the Air Shard serves as a dramatic entry into the museum, with its projected images, observatories and education spaces; and the Water Shard forms the platform for viewing the canal, complete…

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Extension to the Denver Art Museum, Frederic C. Hamilton Building

Denver, Colorado, USA Completed

Studio Libeskind’s extension to the Denver Art Museum is the Studio’s first building to reach completion in the USA.  Silhouetted against the majestic backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, Libeskind’s design consists of a series of geometric volumes inspired by the peaks and valleys of the mountain range.  A sharply angled cantilevered section juts across the street, pointing towards the existing Museum by Milanese architect Gio Ponti, which first opened in 1971. The Frederic C. Hamilton Building, as the 146,000-square-foot Denver Art Museum extension is named, is clad in an innovative new surface with 9,000 titanium panels that cover the building’s surface…

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Military History Museum

Dresden, Germany Completed

Now the official museum of the German Armed Forces, the Dresden Museum of Military History has assumed varying and contradictory identities across its history. The building began its life as an armory, before becoming the Saxon Army Museum, followed by a stint as a Nazi military museum, then a Soviet and East German Museum. Uncertain of the institution’s role in the reunified state, the German government closed the museum and launched an international competition to redesign the structure. Studio Libeskind was selected as design architect for the extension in 2001, after presenting a bold design outside the competition guidelines. The…

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Museo Regional de Tarapaca

Iquique, Chile In design

Studio Libeskind has designed a new museum building for the Museo Antropologico Regional (MAR) de Iquique (Regional Anthropological Museum of Iquique), that will display more than 6,000 years of history of northern Chile. The inspiration for the design entitled ‘El Dragon de Tarapacá’ came from the stark landscape of the Atapaca Desert, the giant cliffs and the urban dune of Iquique, the ‘Cerro Dragon’. It consists of three pairs of parallel vertical walls shaping the major spaces of the museum. The materials reference the pallet and textures of the surrounding natural landscape. The new museum will have approximately 3,760 square…

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Contemporary Jewish Museum

San Francisco, California, USA Completed

Studio Libeskind designed this new museum in the heart of downtown San Francisco as an ode to dialogue, inserting its angled, glowing blue steel-clad structure within a historic red brick power plant from the 19th century. The building design is based on the two Hebrew letters spelling “L’Chaim,” which means “To Life.” Following the Jewish tradition, according to which letters are not mere signs, but substantial participants in the story they create, the ‘chet’ provides an overall continuity for the exhibition and educational spaces, and the ‘yud,’ with its 36 windows, serves as special exhibition, performance and event space. The…

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Extension to the Felix Nussbaum Haus

Osnabrück, Germany Completed

Daniel Libeskind was invited to return to the Felix Nussbaum Haus in Osnabrück, Germany, his first completed project, to design an extension 13 years after the museum’s opening. Attached to the Kunstgeschichtliche Museum and connected to the Felix Nussbaum Haus by a glass bridge, the new building transforms the existing buildings into a cohesive complex by acting as a gateway. Studio Libeskind employed grey plaster and anthracite frames to harmonizes with the existing buildings and create a seamless ensemble. The extension appears less as an additional element as it does a prism from which the original Libeskind-designed building is refracted from…

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Felix Nussbaum Haus

Osnabrück, Germany Completed

Dedicated to the oeuvre of a Jewish artist put to death at Auschwitz, the Felix Nussbaum Museum is an extension to the Cultural History Museum in Osnabrück, Germany, where Felix Nussbaum was born in 1904. As well as displaying paintings created by Nussbaum, the museum presents changing exhibitions focusing on the themes of racism and intolerance. With sudden breaks in its pathways, unpredictable intersections, claustrophobic spaces, and dead ends, the structure of the building reflects the Nussbaum’s predicament as a Jewish painter in Germany before WWII. The museum is composed of three interconnected structures, each referencing a different temporality in…

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Danish Jewish Museum

Copenhagen, Denmark Completed

Located in one of the oldest parts of Copenhagen in Denmark, the Danish Jewish Museum is housed in a former 17th-century boathouse and library built by King Christian IV. Studio Libeskind designed the new interior space, while preserving the historic building. Visitors enter into a dynamic and exhilarating structure which offers a seamless organization of the artifacts and the path of the visitor. The entire building has been conceived as an adventure, both physical and spiritual in tracing the lineaments that reveal the intersection of different histories and the dynamics of Jewish Culture and its unfolding in contemporary life. Studio…

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V&A Museum Extension

London, England In design

The competition for the new extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum was won by Studio Libeskind in 1996. The design for The Spiral, in collaboration with Ove Arup’s Cecil Balmond, pushed the boundaries of engineering and architectural theory. The design is an upward spiral of intersecting planes, creating a jagged vortex inserted between three Grade I listed buildings. The building is derived from an extruded section of a fractal pattern: a geometric pattern relating to the Golden Section. The extruded line was then wrapped upon itself to create the unique shape of the non-axial spiral. The system of continuous, interlocking wall…

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