Architect Daniel Libeskind’s commitment to drawing is not part of the recent back-to-the-basics trend. He started drawing as a child and drew so much that his mother, concerned for his ability to provide for himself, encouraged him away from art and toward architecture. Now, Libeskind, AIA, shares 52 pieces of the art behind his architecture at Rome’s Ermanno Tedeschi Gallery in March before they are moved to Milan; Turin, Italy; Tel Aviv, Israel; and New York. Never Say the Eye is Rigid: Architectural Drawings of Daniel Libeskind includes classical-line drawings, ink sketches, and watercolors from projects such as the master plan for the World Trade Center memorial, the Jewish Museum Berlin, and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. As he wrote in his 2004 memoir, Breaking Ground (John Murray, 2004), “An architect needs to know how to draw; unless there is a connection of eye, hand, and mind, the drawing of the building will lose the human soul altogether and become an abstract exercise.” Each drawing style matches its subject. For example, the master plan for the Trade Center is done on a large scroll, the size signifying the importance of the project and the amount of public attention given to it, whereas intimate sketches of the Jewish Museum convey the quiet sadness of what the museum portrays (even though the building itself is large and mazelike). Through April 30. • etgallery.it/en
In Rome, 52 Daniel Libeskind Drawings On Exhibit
Each of Libeskind's drawings has a distinctive tone that matches its subject.
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