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WTC redesign architect Daniel Libeskind is shopping around his memoirs; the Post also reports that he intends to donate the a portion of proceeds to children of September 11 victims. His agent says, "It's going to be a solid memoir for the general reader. It's not going to be experimental or avant-garde."
Perhaps a shrewd PR move shrouded in philanthropy, Gothamist was confused at first when we read the Post article: Our eyes skimmed over the words, selectively seeing "Libeskind," "writing book," and "children." We worried that the memoir ("which will deal with everything from Libeskind's accordion-playing childhood in Poland to his much-praised design of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and his selection in February as WTC planner") was actually a children's book, a la Madge. A young Libeskind in lederhosen with funky eyeglasses and an accordian? Hmm, that could be funny.
David Childs is the main lead architect and project manager of Freedom Tower; Libeskind is still the main overall WTC redesign architect (thanks, Felix, it's all very confusing). Libeskind's official site.
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No, David Childs is not the main WTC redesign architect. Daniel Libeskind is the main WTC redesign architect. David Childs has nothing to do with the WTC redesign: his ONLY contribution at the moment is as lead architect on the Freedom Tower. (7WTC is not part of the WTC redesign, weirdly enough.) No one ever expected that one architect would build all of the new towers and buildings on the site. You might as well say that Santiago Calatrava is the main WTC redesign architect, because he's building the big new PATH station which will be right there at the crossroads of Fulton and Greenwich in the middle of the whole scheme. There is someone in charge of the redesign in toto, however, and it's Libeskind. Admittedly, this Childs thing is a common misperception: I saw a very aggressive woman from the Daily Express ask Libeskind repeatedly whether he was disappointed that he's no longer the lead architect on the redesign, and I was impressed by Libeskind's diplomacy when he answered her.
OK, you don't believe me? Let's go to the New York Post article you link to: " Under the accord, Silverstein's architect, David Childs, will become the 'design architect and project manager' for the world's tallest building." Nothing there about the WTC redesign; nothing about "redesign architect". Just to get this 100% clear:
Libeskind is in charge of the WTC redesign.
Childs is in charge of the Freedom Tower.
Calatrava is in charge of the PATH station.
Other architects, including Norman Foster, will be in charge of other buildings on the site.
The winner of the memorial design competition will be in charge of, well, the memorial design -- which will necessarily involve a certain amount of changes to the current Libeskind plans for where buildings will be massed, etc.
But there's only one person who's involved in and overseeing EVERYTHING -- and that's Libeskind.
I do believe you! It just too confusing to keep straight and keep in my tiny brain when there are so many episodes of Law & Order to keep track of! Wah! But thank you.
So if Danny Boy is burning a hole in his slide rule designing the new WTC, how can he possibly afford to spend the time writing his memoirs?
Hasn't there been enough self-promotion by now?
So Child's is Silverstein's architect, but how in the world did he get control over the freedom tower? The new design is a monstrosity. I realize that Silverstein has the lease, but what legal ground did he have to gain say over the design of the site?
There needs to be a website detailing all the events.