Some Lessons On Memorials From Berlin

Are there lessons to be learned about the WTC Ground Zero project from Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin? Michael Kimmelman observes that: “in Berlin, as at ground zero, the architecture was chosen before a decision was made about how to fill the building. The balance between form and content has been a vexing issue. Neither the Jewish Museum nor ground zero is immune to box office pressure. Both dubiously equate populism with civic duty.”