Berlin-based star architect Daniel Libeskind feels he's won over an important faction in the recent wrangling over the reconstruction of the World Trade Center.
"I feel especially appreciated by the public," Libeskind said. "People come over to me all the time because they know how tough it is, and they want me to stand strong, not give up."
Libeskind won an international contest to rebuild the centre, but the job of lead architect has been given to another architect selected by developer Larry Silverstein.
Silverstein, who took over a 99-year lease for the twin towers two months before they were destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is financing the reconstruction of the site with insurance money.
"You have to remember we are in a market economy in a city where money and power go together," Libeskind said recently in an interview.
Earlier this month Libeskind and Silverstein met to work out the arrangement under which David Childs, an architect who submitted one of the losing plans for reconstruction the towers, will be the lead architect.
Speaking in New York, Libeskind put the best face on the outcome, calling the arrangement "a tremendous victory" and rationalizing what a New York newspaper said was a setback for him.
"I never thought I would be the only architect," he said, speaking in English. "It is clear that there are so many interests ... and the cooperation is nothing bad."
To him it's a much greater success that the centerpiece of his design, a 592m-high tower, will be built as he conceived it.
"The victory is that the tower I have designed will be built, not another tower," Libeskind said. "And it will have the shape and the height that I had in mind."
Exactly where the tower will be built is another matter.
Silverstein wants the tower moved from the northeastern corner to the east, closer to a planned transit hub in order to create more office space.
Before Childs was named lead architect Libeskind opposed the idea, saying that his winning design should be respected and resisting changes to his strong vision for the new center, which will include a memorial for the 3,000 people killed by the terrorist attacks.
"He [Silverstein] has his own ideas," Libeskind said, adding that the public wants the memorial, the cultural nexus and the restoration of the skyline. "I had proposed the tower at that location for a good reason, but we will also study alternatives."
Libeskind, designer of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, said his team has been asked to look for alternative building placement ideas, and Silverstein is pressing him to hurry.
Construction is to begin next summer following the wishes of New York Governor George Pataki. The entire project, including a cultural centre, the subway station, shopping mall and additional office buildings, could take up to a decade to complete. Libeskind intends to continue working on the project throughout that time period.
In contrast to the skeptical way Libeskind said his design for the Jewish Museum was received in Berlin, he feels the public in New York is completely behind him.
Berliners could only identify with the project once it was complete, he said. New Yorkers on the other hand have been nearly unanimous in stating their desire that Ground Zero have a future.
He said while the Jewish Museum was built for a generation other than the one that was directly affected by what it represented, the World Trade Center reconstruction is for people whose memories of the buildings are still fresh.
The public was involved in the design selection, and now Libeskind feels the reconstruction can proceed "at the speed of light."
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