Design means controversy for U.S. architect Libeskind

By Sebastian Tong

SINGAPORE, Jan 17 (Reuters Life!) - For Daniel Libeskind, the master planner of Ground Zero in New York, architecture and controversy go hand-in-hand.

Libeskind's design was chosen for the 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site of the former World Trade Center destroyed by the September 11 attacks in 2001, but the rebuilding of the Lower Manhattan area has been dogged for nearly five years by acrimony over designs, security and insurance. Construction is now moving forward.

Born in Poland in 1946, Libeskind became a U.S. citizen in 1965 and shot to international prominence in 1989 when he won a competition to design the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

Libeskind, whose designs are known for skewed angles and intersecting lines, acknowledges his career has been somewhat unusual as he spent nearly 20 years teaching architecture before embarking on his first design with the Berlin project.

"Most people think practicing architecture is about building buildings and working in an office but I had a different path. I taught, I drew, I wrote books, I researched. Architecture is all of those things as well," he told Reuters in Singapore, where he unveiled his design for a residential project for local developer Keppel Land.

Q: Are you happy with the way Ground Zero turned out?

A: "I am the master-planner for Ground Zero which means I am responsible for the entire site but there are many different architects. That is not to detract from the fact that my plan is moving ahead and moving ahead very successfully.

"I am very pleased. New Yorkers come up to me all the time to give me their advice on the project but not a single person has said anything negative."