City marker S03 A Walk along the Border

About this artwork.

On a forest of Scottish and slanting poles stands an approximately eight-metre-high “wedge”. It presents an open book that has been painted with fragments from (art) history. The painting, in patchwork pattern, was made by artists from Groningen. Daniel Libeskind wanted to express that the history of the city is written by her own inhabitants.
 
 Libeskind's first design for this artwork was a literal translation of The Books of Groningen, the title of his master plan for the ten city markers. He wanted to install an enormous steel shelving unit in which every Groningen resident could put a book, which would add up to 175,000 copies. But it was too much of a problem to protect the books against weather, wind, mould and mice. In the end, there remained one “book” that was "written" by several Groningen residents.
 
Daniel Libeskind is considered the spiritual leader of deconstructivism in architecture, a movement that flouts traditional building rules. Just as Libeskind left his mark on the skyline of the city of Groningen with his master plan for the nine city markers, he will now do so powerfully for New York too. His design, with the tallest tower in the world and a lot of attention to a monument and a museum for the attack on 11 September 2001, won the competition to design Ground Zero in New York.

The work forms part of the Stadsmarkeringen, The Books of Groningen, marking the city boundaries, project.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Daniel Libeskind

• District
  Stadspark

• Year of creation
  1990

• Art type
  Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Steel, Paint

• Dimensions
  h 8,00 m