MILLITARY HISTORY • The building withstood World War II attacks

on Germany and continued to be used as a

MUSEUM- Dresden, germany military museum until it was closed in 1989
because the newly unified German state was
• The original building was built between
unsure how the museum would fit into the
1873-1876 and became a museum in 1897.
history being created
• Originally the Saxon armory and museum,
has served as a Nazi museum, a Soviet DANIEL LIBESKIND won the bid to redesign
museum and an East German museum Dresden’s Museum of Military History(2001-
which reflected the region's shifting social 2011) that he wanted to create a radical
and political positions over the last 135 departure — something symbolic of Germany’s
years. rigid authoritarian past giving way to the
• On February 13 and 14, 1945, British liberal democracy of today
bomber planes commenced an air attack
against Dresden, creating a vast firestorm
below.
You cannot put German military history into a
box
-DANIEL LIBESKIND
• He has always shown faith in the power of
acute angles to convey pain). But the
Dresden museum offers a particularly pure
form of the anguished angle and tests its
effectiveness to destruction.
• Some architects specialise in hotels, some
skyscrapers; Daniel Libeskind's niche is
ministering to sites of disaster and loss
A modern wedge of glass, concrete and steel
rips through a 135-year-old former armoury The new façade’s openness and transparency
building, its silvery shimmer and stark lines contrasts with the opacity and rigidity of the
contrasting sharply with the neoclassical existing building.
building that it now bisects.
• dramatically interrupts the building's • The latter represents the severity of the
symmetry, its massive, five-story 200-ton authoritarian past.
wedge of glass, concrete and steel slicing • while the former reflects the openness of
through the democratic society in which it has been
The new façade’s openness and transparency reimagined.
pushes through the opacity and rigidity of the The interplay between these perspectives
existing building just as German democracy forms the character of the new Military History
pushed aside the country’s authoritarian past Museum.
.

Inside the wedge a 99 foot viewing platform provides breathtaking views of the city as it is
today while the wedge itself points in the opposite direction, toward the source of the bombs,
creating a dramatic space for reflection.
“The dramatic extension is a symbol of the resurrection of Dresden from its
ashes. It is about the juxtaposition of tradition and innovation, of the new
and the old. Dresden is a city that has been fundamentally altered; the
events of the past are not just a footnote; they are central to the
transformation of the city today.”
"Architecture should move you in a visceral way, something you experience and walk away
from with strong memories,"

The central theme of the MHM’s architecture and exhibition design is an anthropological
consideration of the nature of violence. The museum closely examines the fears, hopes,
passions, memories, motivations and instances of courage, rationality and aggression that
have precipitated violence and, all too often, war.
Grand Canal Theatre
• Architects Studio Libeskind
• Location Dublin Docklands, Ireland
• Architect Daniel Libeskind
• Budget $269.9M USD
• Theatre Area 13,768 sqm
• North Office Block Area 33,320 sqm
• Area 21092.0 m2
• Project Year 2010

The 2000 seat Grand Canal Theatre is a landmark that

creates a focus for its urban context, specifically Grand
Canal Square, the new urban piazza at the waterfront of
Grand Canal Harbour. The architectural concept of the
Theatre is based on stages: the stage of the Theatre itself,
the stage of the piazza, and the stage of the multiple level
Theatre lobby above the piazza. The Theatre becomes the
main façade of a large public piazza that has a five star
hotel and residences on one side and an office building on
the other. The piazza acts as a grand outdoor lobby for the
Theatre, itself becoming a stage for civic gathering with
the dramatic Theatre elevation as a backdrop offering
platforms for viewing. From its rooftop terrace, the
Theatre offers spectacular views out over
the Dublin Harbour.