Masterplan

In 1993, the recently reunified city of Berlin launched a competition for a new masterplan for Alexanderplatz. Located in the Mitte neighborhood, Alexanderplatz is at the geographic and spiritual heart of Berlin—the knot that ties the city’s diverse neighborhoods together. Libeskind’s scheme, dubbed “Traces of the Unbroken,” was predicated upon recognizing the square’s place as a gateway between East and West. The design integrated planning and architectural concepts that resisted the erasure of history and reflected a commitment to the memory of the city’s history and cultural development from the Prussian capital to a global nexus of culture. As such,…

Archipelago 21, Studio Libeskind’s masterplan for the redevelopment of the Yongsan International Business District, dramatically re-envisions the landscape of Seoul, South Korea’s historic capital city.  Incorporating more than 30 million square feet of built area in a large urban park along the Han River, the sustainable plan was conceived to include an international business district, residential neighborhoods, cultural institutions, educational facilities, retail, and transportation. The Studio approached the plan from a human perspective, designing the project from the ground up. The site is organized like an archipelago, broken into distinct neighborhoods called “islands” connected internally by using a retail valley,…