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ARCHITECTUR
“Emotion takes you to another space” “Architecture is a story-telling profession. There is no story without emotion”, Daniel Libeskind said once. In his interview with Out of Sync (2016) he stated that architecture nowadays is not connected with emotion. At the same time, emotion is the soul of architecture to him. But why is this so important to Libeskind?
In the 19th and 20th century there were some new movements in architecture. Suddenly, the emotions of the years before were thrown away and form follows function became the norm. “Architecture was seen as an abstraction without meaning behind it”, Libeskind explains. Many neutralized spaces arose, often only using as few materials as possible.
In the present, still too many neutralized spaces are being built according to Libeskind. One of the reasons behind this could be the emergence of electronical devices. Libeskind admits that they bring loads of advantages: “You couldn’t do anything without a computer if you want to use your time efficiently”. However, he thinks that drawing is the source of architecture. Drawings are like the score of a piece of music: they set the tone in terms of composition but can be interpreted in different ways. They also convey an atmosphere which is crucial to a story-telling profession.
Image 1: Abstract drawing of Libeskind SOURCES Libeskind, D. (2012, 19 september). Architecture is a language [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEkDosanxGk 2 Libeskind, D. (2016, 17 december). Emotion in Architecture [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j64YQdrE5CU 3 Libeskind, D. (2017, 20 juli). We mustn’t forget the emotional impact of the buildings around us. https://edition.cnn.com/style/ article/daniel-libeskind-architecture-emotions/index.html 1
Pavka, E. (2010, 25 november). Jewish Museum, Berlin. https:// www.archdaily.com/91273/ad-classics-jewish-museum-berlindaniel-libeskind 5 Studio Libeskind (2020). Projects [Afbeeldingen]. https://libeskind. com 4
