Winning a competition in architecture is a ticket to oblivion. It's just an idea. Ninety-nine per cent never get built.
Daniel LibeskindRead
And you have to remember that I came to America as an immigrant. You know, on a ship, through the Statue of Liberty. And I saw that skyline, not just as a representation of steel and concrete and glass, but as really the substance of the American Dream.
Interpretation
The skyline represents the hopes and dreams of immigrants in America.
In this quote, Daniel Libeskind expresses the profound emotional and symbolic significance of the American skyline as perceived by an immigrant. He reflects on his journey, emphasizing that the skyline is more than just a physical structure; it embodies the aspirations and dreams of countless individuals who seek a better life in America, representing freedom, opportunity, and the ultimate realization of the American Dream.
In practice
In a speech about immigration, one might cite this quote to highlight the contributions of immigrants to American culture.
Winning a competition in architecture is a ticket to oblivion. It's just an idea. Ninety-nine per cent never get built.
There are more people living in Lower Manhattan now than before the terrorist attacks. That's faith for you. There's such a strong spirit here.
Architecture is not just for the moment, it is not just for the next fashion magazine.
In a strange way, architecture is really an unfinished thing, because even though the building is finished, it takes on a new life. It becomes part of a new dynamic: how people will occupy it, use it, think about it.
I think there is a new awareness in this 21st century that design is as important to where and how we live as it is for museums, concert halls and civic buildings.
Architecture is not based on concrete and steel, and the elements of the soil. It's based on wonder.
You have to recover the capacity to imagine yourself as an ideal and figure out how to project that into the world.
If you’re alive, you can’t be bored in San Francisco. If you’re not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life.
The joy I get from winning a major championship doesn't even compare to the feeling I get when a kid writes a letter saying: 'Thank you so much. You have changed my life.'
From my earliest youth, I have known that while one is obliged to plan with care the stages of one's journey, one is entitled to dream, and keep dreaming, of its destination. A man may feel as old as his years yet as young as his dreams.
Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops Sail o'er the canyons and up to the stars And reach for the heavens and hope for the future And all that we can be and not what we are.
I will clamber through the clouds and exist.
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