Libeskind making headlines again

Real Estate Weekly, Oct 27, 2004

Studio Daniel Libeskind has been appointed design team leader for a striking new 350,000 s/f Creative Media Centre on the Hong Kong campus of the City University of Hong Kong.

The $100 million (US) Creative Media Centre will be principally funded by the Hong Kong Government and offer some of the finest media and educational facilities in Asia. In addition to the School of Creative Media, the Centre will also house the Centre for Media Technology and the Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology. The University has also reached a tri-partite agreement with the Beijing Film Academy and the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television to facilitate educational exchanges and collaborations. The Centre is planned to be completed in four years.

"The building will be an architectural icon for the arts, the University and Hong Kong itself," said City University President, Professor H. K. Chang.

"It will be an inspiration for all who become part of it," he said.

Mr. Chang noted that the 9-story building's distinctive crystalline design will contain a rich variety of forms, open spaces and light, presenting an inspiring environment for creativity and research.

"This is an extraordinarily vibrant building that both literally and figuratively opens new horizons for culture and sets free the creative imagination," said Mr. Libeskind.

Studio Daniel Libeskind was chosen for the assignment after a global search and selection process. Local Hong Kong architects Leigh and Orange will collaborate on the new Centre along with global engineers Arup, and Hong Kong quantity surveyors, Levett and Bailey.

Mr. Libeskind's best known designs include the Jewish Museum Berlin, the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester and the Post-Graduate Centre at the London Metropolitan University.

Mr. Libeskind is the master planner for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site in New York City and his design team, CityLife--A project for Milan, was recently selected to create the master plan for the historic Fiera di Milano fairgrounds in Milan.