The Times' EDWARD ROTHSTEIN, as I recall his work, ordinarily does not write reviews that rip apart their subject in a gut wrenching fashion.
So I am willing to say that it was out of character for him to do just that in his Museums column, "In Berlin, Teaching Germany’s Jewish History" which opens with this straight from the gut upchuck:
BERLIN — There may be worse Jewish museums in the world than the Jüdisches Museum Berlin, which opened in 2001. But it is difficult to imagine that any could be as uninspiring and banal, particularly given its pedigree and promise. Has any other Jewish museum been more celebrated or its new building (designed by Daniel Libeskind) so widely hailed? Is any other Jewish museum of more symbolic importance? ...more...The rest of the opinion essay (it is by no means a review) jumps around from one venue to another and makes disconnected points about this and that.
Rothstein thinks that some German memorials and museum are good and some are not. End of story. I learned little, and sure do wish I could have taken away more from the newspaper of record on this important topic.
At last, Edward Rothstein has declared Libeskind to be an Emperor With No Clothes.
ReplyDeleteLibeskind's pedantic and rambling museums only serve to cheapen Jewish history and Jewish culture. Bereft of decent architectural ideas, Libeskind uses (or abuses) the exact same formal language for Jewish Museums, art galleries and a host of other building types. He claims that his designs are the visual vocabulary of trauma and exile, but these same forms get used in residences and office buildings designed by him.
Daniel Libeskind is a one-trick pony whose architectural gimmickry trivialize rather than celebrate Jewish culture.