“Don’t stick to the rules. Your study years are the best time to be creative and grow professionally” ,advised Architect Daniel Libeskind to students of architecture at Technion

27Four world-leading architects participated in the Waterfront Conference that took place at Technion last week. They were Daniel Libeskind, who is developing the master plan for the World Trade Center, landscape architect Professor Martha Schwartz from Harvard University, Vanessa Kassabian from the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta that designed the Opera House in Oslo, and Gregg Pasquarelli from SHoP architects, responsible for planning the Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, a two-mile esplanade and park along the East River Waterfront of Manhattan.

“The Haifa International Waterfront Conference: Revitalizing a Coastal Metropolis” dealt on subjects relating to Haifa’s waterfront program, and was organized by the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning and the Haifa Municipality. Hundreds of students from the Faculty attended the conference. The Dean of the Faculty, Professor Yehuda Kalay, welcomed all of the participating architects and students and told students that it is a rare opportunity for them to meet internationally renowned architects, and to exchange views at eye level. “We are happy for this conference,” he said, “Firstly because most of us here today are Haifa residents, and secondly, because we are studying in Haifa, and the city is like our laboratory.”

Architect Daniel Libeskind spoke at a special panel emceed by Els Verbakel, Lecturer at the Faculty, with his wife Nina and architects Professor Martha Schwartz and Gregg Pasquarelli. He compared his architectural work to the magical acts of the Great Hudini. “You get a project in a challenging environment: there is never enough funding, and often it’s very frustrating and hopeless, but these are the kinds of projects that interest me, challenging and involving creativity. When I planned the area of Ground Zero in Manhattan, it took me a long time to convince the Municipality to leave the area where the Twin Towers stood as an open space. Land in Manhattan is very expensive, but in this place, people lost their lives, and leaving it unbuilt emphasizes the void left.”

To the students Libeskind said that, “Your study years are the best time to be creative and grow professionally. You don’t have any obligations, so go on and do what it is you always wanted. I like to encourage my students not stick to the rules all the time, to always ask questions and do research. An architect can’t plan buildings as a blank slate (‘tabula rasa’ in Latin), and therefore he needs to get a better understanding for the area he is planning in, its history, and the mood and state of mind of the people living in the area. An architect that doesn’t properly research and ask is a bureaucrat. In my opinion, the profession of architecture may become obsolete in the future because with technological progress, everyone will be able to influence and plan their own living environment.”

Landscape architect Professor Martha Schwartz from Harvard University, who designed many landscaping projects around the world, among artificial archipelago islands in Dubai, the Grand Canal in Dublin and others, said: “Landscaping architecture is an art form that completes the construction and architecture. The development of landscapes makes areas more attractive and has an effect on the entire city. Until 20 years ago, landscaping architecture was a dormant field, and today, almost every architectural project includes landscape planning and takes into account environmental considerations.”

Vanessa Kassabian from the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta with offices in Oslo and New York, designed the Opera House in Oslo. Today she is working on the design of a new environmental and spatial plan for Times Square in Manhattan. “We focus on the accessibility of public space for all people. I want to thank the Technion for the opportunity to lecture at this conference. The architects in attendance are all connected to New York and we are very excited about the cooperation between the University of Cornell and Technion, and the establishment of the join Innovation Institute to be built in New York.”

Gregg Pasquarelli is visiting in Israel for the first time. He summed it all up when he said, “This is a great time to be a young architect. Technology advancement is reflected at every aspect of architecture – from the planning stage, construction phase, funding and theory. Take chances and challenge the rules. You are studying at an amazing university. Go out and speak with students from other faculties, engineers and scientists. Together you’ll develop new technologies and reinvent architecture anew.”

Above: Architect Daniel Libeskind at the Waterfront Conference. Photographed by Doron Golan, Spokesperson’s Office