Who

Libeskind isn't widely admired for his architecture—purists consider him a blowhard—but he knows the value of the press, which is probably why he's one of the most famous architects in America.

Backstory

Libeskind was born in Poland and moved to Israel with his family when he was 11. He proved himself to be quite the musical prodigy as a youngster: In his early teens, he performed alongside a young Itzhak Perlman at a recital in Tel Aviv. The family relocated to New York in 1959 and Libeskind later headed off to high school at Bronx Science, which is where he says he first decided to pursue architecture at the age of 17. But more than three decades would pass before he'd actually see one of his designs carried out. Libeskind spent most of his early career as an academic, immersing himself in the theoretical principles of the field as a professor at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan and Cooper Union in New York. In 1989 he finally embarked on his first project, the Jewish Museum in Berlin, which he spent a decade working on before it was finally completed in 1999. The museum earned resounding praise from critics, and helped win the architect his second major commission, designing a new building for the Denver Art Museum. Libeskind became a household name in New York in 2002, following George Pataki's announcement that he'd picked him to design the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero.

Of note

The buildings that will ultimately stand at the World Trade Center site will look almost nothing like the buildings Libeskind came up with as part of his master plan in 2002. His marginalization from the process began when Larry Silverstein, who leased the World Trade Center from the Port Authority, hired architect David Childs to design the Freedom Tower, even though George Pataki (who, as governor, controlled the PA) had chosen Libeskind to oversee the master site plan. The feud between Silverstein and Pataki dragged on for months as both sides tried to win the high-profile legal and PR battle. When the matter was finally settled, Libeskind and Childs agreed to collaborate on the design, although Childs was ultimately placed in charge.

The fight over control of Ground Zero exposed Libeskind to good deal of criticism from his peers and critics, who resented both his lack of real-world experience and his propensity for hogging the spotlight, and there were plenty of whispers that his selection may have had more to do with politics than any bold aesthetic choice on the part of the governor. (One popular rumor was that billionaire Ron Lauder, one of George Pataki's biggest supporters and an old friend of Libeskind, had been instrumental in pushing for his selection.) It certainly didn't help Libeskind's cause when it was reported that he didn't even have a U.S. architectural license until five months after he won the WTC commission.

The efforts to sideline Libeskind from the World Trade Center project have hardly hurt his career prospects. Quite on the contrary: He now has more than a dozen massive projects underway, including a 6.5 million-square-foot complex in Busan, South Korea; a highrise in Warsaw; a sprawling shopping center in Las Vegas; and, pending approval from the city, a residential building for El Ad Properties that will rise more than 70 stories above Madison Avenue. His firm, Studio Daniel Libeskind, which he operates with his wife, has offices in New York, Hong Kong, and Zurich—and he now has a vast staff of associates to handle the messy details, which leaves him plenty of time for client meetings and, more importantly, interviews with the international press.

Personal

The diminutive architect is married to Nina Libeskind, his business partner and the scion of a prominent Canadian political family. (Her brother was former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and her dad was a founder of Canada's New Democratic Party.) The Libeskinds have three kids—Lev, Noam, and Rachel—and live in a Tribeca loft, which they purchased for $1 million in 2003. The apartment was renovated by former Libeskind student Alex Gorlin. The Libeskinds also have a home in the south of France.

Soundbite

"Danny, you've never designed a tall building," Larry Silverstein reportedly said when Libeskind informed him that he planned to design the Freedom Tower. "If I'm going to have heart surgery, I don't want a surgeon who's never done heart surgery before."