Daniel Libeskind compares architecture to a Mozart concerto

Daniel Libeskind, named architecture laureate of the 2026 Praemium Imperiale awards, says his body of work functions like a musical composition — "architecture is much the same" as a Mozart concerto, with no single project more important than another.

The New York-based architect, who leads his eponymous international practice, made the remarks in an interview with Dezeen while serving as a judge for this year's Dezeen Awards. Last month, he joined the master jury in London, where judges selected winners from 392 shortlisted projects.

"I am an architect, but also a storyteller," Libeskind told Dezeen. "I create buildings, public spaces, and neighbourhoods that connect people to history, memory, and the future."

His design approach is informed by early musical training. "There is no single project that I would call the most important," he said. "It is like asking which note is the most important in a Mozart concerto. No single note carries the composition on its own; it is the relationship between all of them that creates the music."

Which projects does Libeskind pick?

He named five works that best represent his approach:

• Jewish Museum Berlin, Germany, 2001 — "It is not simply a museum but a spatial journey through history, memory, absence, and hope," he said. The building "can communicate ideas and emotions before a single object is displayed."
• Imperial War Museum North, UK, 2002 — Conceived as "a world shattered by conflict and reassembled into fragments." The project lost half its budget, yet Libeskind's team "built the exact concept with some creative value engineering on time and on budget."
• World Trade Center master plan, USA, 2003 — "It demonstrated that architecture can help heal collective trauma and reaffirm civic values," he said of rebuilding Ground Zero.
• Museum of Military History, Germany, 2011 — A wedge "cuts through the existing structure to create new perspectives on conflict, memory, and humanity." The building, he said, "can provoke reflection rather than provide simple answers."
• Złota 44, Poland, 2017 — Standing opposite Stalin's Palace of Culture and Science, the Warsaw tower serves as "a counterpoint to the monumentality and authoritarian symbolism of that era." Born in communist Poland, Libeskind said the project "carries a deeply personal significance."

What happens next with the Dezeen Awards?

The public vote is open until 16 October, giving readers one week to choose their own winners from the shortlist. Dezeen will announce the public vote winners on its social media channels ahead of the awards party on 16 November, with discounted tickets for shortlisted studios priced at £249. The ninth edition of the annual awards runs in partnership with technology company Trimble.

Libeskind's musical framing of his own oeuvre comes at a moment of double recognition: a Praemium Imperiale laureateship and a jury seat shaping the field's next honourees.