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Since 1989, Daniel Libeskind has gained a reputation for designing landmark cultural spaces around the world. His office, Libeskind Studio, has credits including the Jewish Museum in Berlin, the World Trade Center master plan in lower Manhattan, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, and more. Most recently, he worked with families of victims of the Pittsburgh mass shooting to design an outdoor memorial and a redesigned center to combat anti-Semitism at Tree of Life Synagogue.
Today, Libeskind is working on a project that most people wouldn’t associate with an architect like him: social housing.Libeskind Studio Ellen and Geraldine Rosenberg Residence It opened last September in Freeport, Long Island. There are 45 well-designed units that provide much-needed housing for formerly homeless and low-income seniors. Studio Libeskind’s Atrium in Sumner is another social housing project scheduled to open early this year in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Studio Libeskind moved to Manhattan from Berlin in 2003, but the Rosenberg House is the office’s first building in New York. one spoke to Daniel Libeskind about these two social housing projects and why he is so passionate about them.
one: You grew up in a co-op in the Bronx. How has this affected your view of architecture?
Daniel Libeskind (DL): I come from a Polish immigrant family, both of my parents were factory workers.When we moved to the United States, we lived in the country’s first cooperative housing complex, the Amalgamated Houses, built by [International Ladies] Garment Workers Union in the Bronx.
There is a movie called this Costume Jungle This shows the dilemma workers and unions once faced.our [cooperative] The Garment Workers Union is beautiful. It was a wonderful place for an immigrant teenager. We had a small apartment—the four of us in a two-bedroom with no elevator—but we had a community. We have a library and a shared space where Yiddish poets speak. It was here that I developed the belief that social co-op housing truly creates community.
I actually recently revisited my old house in the Bronx for a movie. Still so beautiful. The fact that this quality of life in co-housing is affordable for working-class people like us expands my understanding of architecture beyond the appearance of the building, but also about ethics and political issues.
one: How does your upbringing inspire you to build supportive housing today?
DL: Too often, famous architects are known for grand buildings like museums, but we really need to change that. We need more great architects designing public housing, and we need to remove the stigma behind public housing. Cities are often judged by how gorgeous their museums are, but they should really be judged by how working-class people live there.
Today, there simply aren’t enough housing for the working class and low-income people. This, combined with my own childhood, is why we entered two competitions to design supportive housing in Long Island and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Sumner’s Atrium in Brooklyn and [Rosenberg Residences] People on Long Island partnered with Selfhelp, an organization founded during the Holocaust to help people move to New York. Back then, Selfhelp primarily helped Jews find housing, but today they primarily serve people from Asia and Latin America. Their demographics have changed, but their mission remains the same: provide good housing for people. I think this is an amazing organization. So both projects in Brooklyn and Long Island are very close to my heart.
one: What was your approach to designing the Rosenberg House?
DL: When we designed the Rosenberg House, I had a simple goal. I want to design a place where I want to live. More broadly, I wanted to show architects that good housing for homeless and working people can be built with very limited means.
Aesthetically, I wanted to build something that fit in with the neighborhood but was different from the surrounding housing. I wanted to create a building that spoke to the people who lived there. So it’s a rustic style, perfect for family living, but with spectacular spaces and unique views. Buildings change the character of the street itself.
At the opening, a woman who was homeless before moving into the building gave a speech. She talked about her life in the car. Speaking at the opening, she said when she walked into her new house she couldn’t believe it was meant for her. She had a bed, a kitchen, and things that many people take for granted. I think this kind of work is exemplary and should be done by more architects.
one: Can you talk about the design of the Sumner Atrium?
DL: The Brooklyn site faces the Sumner housing complex, which are box-shaped buildings with no real relationship to the street. Our goal is to create a beautiful environment in an ever-changing community. So we designed an atrium that is a social space, a clinic, a space for lectures and performances, etc. Just like my experience growing up in the Bronx.
When we visited the Bed-Stuy site, people would stop us on the street and ask if the building was for wealthy people’s apartments. We would say: No, this is for low-income and formerly homeless seniors. The community greatly appreciates the quality of the design.
one: There are many obstacles to building more public housing in the United States. What needs to be done to change this situation?
DL: I work part-time in Berlin and even people there are protesting. They also can’t pay their rent, so this is a global crisis. Governments and private parties should recognize that when a city provides housing for everyone, everyone benefits. Charities and developers need to make it easier to build public housing and make a living from it. Today, I have great admiration for NYCHA. They raise people’s aspirations by investing in truly great architecture and cityscapes, allowing people to live good lives.
I think it’s also important to remove the stigma of social housing. When the Rosenberg House opened on Long Island, some people said to me that they were surprised that a well-known architect wanted to design social housing. But that’s exactly why I do it! I want to raise the bar and show architects that we need to do more in this area.
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