Herbert Muschamp Dead At 59

Designing New York's Future at GadgetoffDesigning New York’s Future at Gadgetoff, originally uploaded by dandubno2000

Wow. Herbert Muschamp, former architecture critic at The New York Times passed away at the age of 59. Via Gawker (of all places) Editor Bill Keller’s memo to Times staffers:

Colleagues,
I’m saddened to report that Herbert Muschamp died late last night at Mt. Sinai, after a fierce and unpleasant battle with cancer. He was 59.
Like many of you, I considered Herbert a friend. His eye and his gift with words made him a source of joy for readers. There will be much more to say, but for the moment I can’t improve on a message from Sam Sifton:
Herbert was architecture critic for The Times from 1992 to 2004; his wide-ranging, often deeply personal reviews made him one of the most influential critics of his generation. He was more lately a columnist for the T style magazines, an occasional contributor to Arts & Leisure and, seated at his regular table at The Odeon downtown, a stern and hilarious adviser to editors past and present.

Daniel Libeskind profiled in New York Magazine

06-10 Denver Art Museum (1)06-10 Denver Art Museum (1), originally uploaded by MCPastur

New York Magazine profiles architect Daniel Libeskind in The Liberation of Daniel Libeskind:

You remember Daniel Libeskind: the architect with the perpetual smile who wooed New York with images of a crystalline city rising from the rubble of ground zero. He tossed metaphorical titles like confetti—Wedge of Light, Freedom Tower, Memory Foundations, Park of Heroes. He spoke with such articulate sincerity that he seemed almost able to conjure architecture into existence by sheer force of enthusiasm. He kept grinning as politicians and rivals and real-estate men whittled away at his plan. Eventually, you recall, he was pushed off the Freedom Tower’s design team. You could be excused for believing that he had slunk back to Europe to design an avant-garde gallery or two.
But Libeskind, who graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and the Cooper Union before migrating to Michigan, Italy, and Germany, has become a New Yorker again. Every morning, he sits in the comfortably austere living room of his Tribeca apartment, devoting a ritual hour to listening to classical music. After breakfast, he walks with his wife, Nina, to his studio on Rector Street, where, with undimmed smile and untempered zeal, he presides over a minor architectural empire.

Compare this article, which alludes to Libeskind’s uncanny optimism in the face of disappointment, with NY Mag’s opus regarding the Ground Zero Memorial entitled, The Breaking of Michael Arad.
Libeskind is perhaps the only person or entity which will escape the lunacy and ignobility which the rebuilding process at World Trade has descended. Which is quite the turnaround from just a few years ago when his master plan looked like it would crumble under the weight of politics and other architect’s influence.

Monday, Monday (links)

FrankLlyodWright_boathouse_WFrankLlyodWright_boathouse_W, originally uploaded by broken_gargoyle