Jewish Museum

Created by

Sophia Kirkwood

Cards (19)

Who is the architect?
Daniel Libeskind
Where is the piece located?
Berlin, Germany
When did it open?
2001 (Post 1850)
What is the style?
Deconstructivism
What is the form?
Commemorative architecture
Why was the piece created?
During 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down, various architects submitted proposals to create the new Jewish Museum, situated in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin to replace a building that was destroyed by the Gestapo 50 years prior.
What were the 2 inspirations for the piece?
Libeskind won with his proposal “Between the Lines”, inspired by Walter Benjamin’s book “One Way Street” and Arnold Schoenberg’s opera “Moses und Aron” since the piece was left unfinished, creating a void within the music.
What was Libeskind's overall intension with the building?
Commemorate Jewish history as a whole, exhibiting cultural, social and political history.
What is the building so unique?
Rejects modernist architecture, as the building exhibits impressions of fragmentation, includes an absence of harmony, reveals an emphasis of chaos and expresses a sense of unsettledness.
Give the 3 critical texts
“Transformed the way we think about Jewish History” (Connie Wolf) – intro
“Jewish history is hidden” (Libeskind) – entrance.
“connects to some form of experience that I [Daniel Libeskind] think is important to communicate.” (Libeskind) – conclusion.
Give a point about the facade of the building
Point: The zigzag shape (generating an irregular floorplan) upholds sharp lines
Effect: Embodies the violence within Jewish history in Germany, intensifying the pain in which Jewish people experienced.
Give a point about the fenestration
Point: Looks violently slashed with force.
Effect: Highlight the extent of aggression Jewish people received.
Give a point about the use of metal
Point: Helps the slashed shaped windows become more vivid over time as the metal rusts.
Effect: conveying that the damage inflicted upon the Jews will continue to be remembered through time.
Give a point about the unique, untraditional entrance
Location: Inside the next door building (the original Prussian Court of Justice)
Appearance: it is large with untreated dark concrete and sharp angles, opening onto a staircase which leads underground to the foundations of the old building. The staircase leads the visitor to 3 underground corridors (axises)
Give a point about the axis of continuity
Longest corridor which leads to a colossal, step 82 staircase which rises from the basement level to the 3rd floor, representing the difficulty / struggle / effort attempting to make one’s way along the path to return to the light of day as visitors become out of breath.
Give a point about the axis of death / holocaust
Located outside the museum. 24m tower, constructed of black concrete with no ornamentation and no heating. However, there is a narrow opening on the ceiling which allows a minimal amount of light to enter - far away, and muffled sounds from the city.
Effect: Sense of hopelessness, idea of containment, emphasising the lack of freedom Jewish people experienced, freedom not within reach.
Give a point about the axis of exile
Leads to an open air labyrinth/garden. Trees planted in 49 pillars, 10 degree angle. Dead end, cut off by dry mote, have to return underground.
Effect: unbalance visitors + highlight that Jews who escaped rarely found freedom.
Give a point about the walls / corridor / jaggered floorplan / windows
Point: Tilted, uneven
Effect: increase feelings of vulnerability for the visitors, mirroring feelings of Jews.
Reasoning for windows : Libeskind drew lines on a Berlin map that joined historically significant Berlin figures within former Jewish neighbourhoods with the surname "Berlina".
Give the conclusion point
Attracts roughly 700,00 people a year.
Success = multi-sensory experience to express = offering perspectives onto Jewish history, stripped of identity/dehumanised, aimed to reunite the districts, commemorating the Kreuzberg district.