Construction works have begun on Albert Einstein House, designed by Studio Libeskind to exhibit the legacy of the famous physicist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, of which Einstein himself was one of the founders and to which he donated all his writings and intellectual property.
Twisted cube by Libeskind to host Einstein’s legacy in Jerusalem
The architect was inspired by the famous theory of relativity and the relationship between space, time, and matter to design the new addition to the Hebrew University.
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- Lucia Brandoli
- 31 July 2023
The Einstein House will serve as a hub for scientific education, showing a collection of more than 82 thousand objects, thanks to advanced exhibition techniques and original documents. The complex geometry of the structure is inspired by Einstein’s own drawings and his research on the curvature of the universe.
The building of 29,000 square feet is composed of a series of twisted elements, which together give rise to a kind of distorted cube; while the dynamic facade is characterized by a vertical pattern of ribbed lined stone, which further enhances the impression of deformation, creating a sense of surprise while maintaining the memory of a recognized order.
The form for the House of Einstein is inspired by the general theory of relativity. In particular, Libeskind would have been inspired as a guiding principle by the famous phrase of the American physicist John Archibald Wheeler: “Spacetime tells matter how to move; matter tells spacetime how to curve”. “My aim is for the building to provide imaginative spaces, both outside and inside,” said Daniel Libeskind.
Image courtesy of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Image courtesy of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Image courtesy of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Image courtesy of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.