Ground Zero’s Loss, Denver’s Gain

I like this quote from one of my favorite writers on architecture, James Russell of Bloomberg, who gives another early review (more favorable than that of The New Yorker‘s Paul Goldberger), of Daniel Libeskind’s addition to the Denver Art Museum, opening to the public on Oct. 7:
In Denver, it’s tragically clear just what New York has given up in trashing just about every life-enhancing element of Libeskind’s master plan at Ground Zero.

At a time when our wounds from the terrorist attack were still raw, Libeskind’s engaging plans and his inspirational elucidation of them lifted our spirits and gave us courage to build. All you had to do was look at the rapt faces watching the video of his explanation of the project—the biggest attention-getter in the public display at the World Financial Center of the various architectural proposals—to appreciate how he converted despair to optimism. The momentum has been lost, the optimism has been replaced by cynicism, and Libeskind, still smiling through his frustration and disappointment, has been reduced to almost zero at Ground Zero.
Maybe someone should get Larry Silverstein a (one-way?) ticket to Denver!