I am continuing to be inspired by Daniel Libeskind’s interview at IAM. I can see him in his black suit and pointed boots, his grey coiffure and sharp glasses sitting next to Dick Staub our interviewer. I am reminded of him grinning at the memories of being a boy in Poland and learning to play the accordion because his parents couldn’t afford to buy him a piano. He said that he was not cut off from music in his work as an architect and artist. He was a great storyteller, describing the events of his life that led him to the 9/11 memorial.
I was moved as an artist and as American rememberer of 9/11 when he described all the architects viewing the Ground Zero site from above but only he was willing to go down below to the slurry wall, the only piece left from the destruction, and the piece that is holding the river back from washing away all of lower Manhattan. And it was when he touched that slurry wall with his own hands that he knew what his design should be – The bedrock of New York should be connected to the light and to the sky.
It was important for me to hear where and how inspiration came upon Libeskind, in both the design of the Berlin Holocaust museum and the Ground Zero memorial. It struck me that in each instance, Libeskind put himself in the circumstance; he was in it, touching it, feeling it, smelling it, tasting it, being immersed and overwhelmed by the place, the emotions, the light, the shadows. He allowed himself to be in it.
Here are some of the quotes from his speech that I scribbled down. I hope you will add more. I am motivated by his thoughts still today. I’m almost certain that my use of the term believer-artist was born in listening to him and being ‘in it’ myself.
On why many of his designs are drawn on napkins: You can not order inspiration. You can create the environment for receiving it. You can not decide on the inspiration.
All events are connected.
Light is the fundamental material for the architect.
Architecture must respond to the need of the people.
On being down in the pit and touching the slurry wall he said that there was the
Echo of Memory.
You must be a believer. You must believe that hope leads.
Be an optimist – a Believer in the good.
Even if you lose there is something worth fighting for.
Regarding the contracts for the Berlin Holocaust memorial and the Ground Zero Memorial:
Follow the path rather than the goal.
I Went to the meeting when the Senator invited me to hear why it was a no. In that meeting, he ‘won’ the contract.
I went to the meeting with the mayor and the governor for ground zero when I knew they had chosen another group.
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4 comments:
Leibeskind's interview was one of the (many) high points of the conference. What especially struck me was his comment about, "...not understanding people who are always setting goals. I've never set a goal in my life." And yet, here he is, at the top of his profession. Can it be true? Or is the "goal-setting mania" everyone promotes so fervently shutting out the chance for wonder to take over?
We tend to think of "goal-less" people as slackers or hermits. Perhaps goal-setting is a by-product of a business mindset more than a real human need. If I don't set a deadline, a project seldom gets done in a timely manner. Yet, there are those moments when unstructured time is needed to develop a vision through to a satisfying (even surprising) conclusion, like an author suddenly realizing one of his or her characters wants to do something totally "unexpected."
Thanks for the link to Dick Staub's book -- looks excellent!
I've been reading Teresa's paper on Hope in the book of Jeremiah and think that Hope was the overriding message from Libeskind (as well as much of IAM.)
Hooray for the goal-less!
There's so much emotional baggage associated with goals and goal setting, as to say, "still not good enough, try harder." Is it our Western mindset? The framework we (Americans, Westerners, etc.) operate within? I know there's a balance, but 1, 5, 7, 10 year plans have always blown up in my face and I wind up feeling 'less than.' Keep in mind I missed the, by all accounts, sensational closing night due to my pesky foot injury, but I dare say Leibeskind's interview was the real high point for me. There was something about him, his work, his philosophy, etc. that resonated and inpsired me.
I am encouraged by this discussion regarding goals. I am working on a paper on a related topic, that of measurements. So often, we measure our activity in such a quantitative way that we miss the true indicators of effectiveness. In other words, we can be checking off boxes and reaching our goals (not a bad thing) but missing something else. I think what I often mask with the "box checking" is my desires.
I would like to try and evaluate my effectiveness as s person more by how closely connected I am to the Lord and my family, and by whether there is room in my life to recognize God the Holy Spirit when He shows Himself. I saw Leibeskind as an example of this. He seemed to see beyond . . .
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