Daniel Libeskind's 17 words of architectural inspiration

Translator: Helena Bedalli Reviewer: Dita Bytyci

I'll start with my favorite muse, Emily Dickinson,

Po filloj me muzen time te preferuar, Emily Dickinson,

who said that wonder is not knowledge, neither is it ignorance.

qe tha se mrekullia nuk eshte dituri, por as injorance.

It's something which is suspended

Eshte dicka qe qendron

between what we believe we can be,

midis asaj qe besojme qe mund te jemi,

and a tradition we may have forgotten.

dhe tradites, qe mund ta kemi harruar.

And I think, when I listen to these incredible people here,

Dhe mendoj, kur degjoj keta njerez te jashtzakonshem ketu,

I've been so inspired -- so many incredible ideas, so many visions.

me kane frymezuar--kaq shume ide, vizione.

And yet, when I look at the environment outside,

Por, kur veshtron ambientin jashte,

you see how resistant architecture is to change.

mund te shohesh sa e veshtire eshte per arkitekturen te ndryshoje.

You see how resistant it is to those very ideas.

Ju e shihni veshtiresine tek po keto ide.

We can think them out. We can create incredible things.

Mund te mendojme rreth tyre. Mund te krijojme gjera te jashtezakonshme.

And yet, at the end,

Dhe prape, ne fund te fundit,

it's so hard to change a wall.

eshte kaq veshtire te ndryshosh nje mur.

We applaud the well-mannered box.

Nje kuti e edukuar i pelqen te gjitheve.

But to create a space that never existed is what interests me;

Por ajo qe me intereson mua eshte krijimi i nje hapesire qe s'ka ekzistuar me pare;

to create something that has never been,

te krijosh dicka qe nuk ka qene me pare,

a space that we have never entered except in our minds and our spirits.

nje hapesire qe s'kemi hyre ndonjehere, pervec se me mendje e shpirt.

And I think that's really what architecture is based on.

Dhe, mendoj, se tamam mbi kete bazohet arkitektura.

Architecture is not based on concrete

Arkitektura nuk bazohet mbi beton

and steel and the elements of the soil.

e celik dhe karakteristikat e tokes.

It's based on wonder.

Bazohet mbi mrekulline.

And that wonder is really what has created the greatest cities,

Dhe kjo mrekulli eshte ajo qe ka krijuar qytetet me te famshme,

the greatest spaces that we have had.

hapsirat me te mrekullueshme qe kemi pasur.

And I think that is indeed what architecture is. It is a story.

Kjo eshte arkitektura per mua. Eshte nje histori.

By the way, it is a story that is told through

Midis te tjerave, nje histori e treguar nepermjet

its hard materials.

materialeve te forta te ndertimit.

But it is a story of effort and struggle

Por, eshte histori e perpjekjes dhe luftes

against improbabilities.

kunder pangjashmerise.

If you think of the great buildings, of the cathedrals, of the temples,

Nese mendoni per ndertesat e medha, katedralet, tempujt,

of the pyramids, of pagodas,

piramidat, pagodat,

of cities in India and beyond,

qytetet indiane e me tutje,

you think of how incredible this is that that was realized

arrin te kuptosh sa e mrekullueshme eshte qe jane realizuar

not by some abstract idea, but by people.

jo nga ide abstrakte, por nga njerezit.

So, anything that has been made can be unmade.

Tani, gjithe kjo qe eshte ndertuar mund te shkaterrohet.

Anything that has been made can be made better.

Cdo gje qe eshte bere, mund te ribehet me mire.

There it is: the things that I really believe

Kjo eshte: gjerat ne te cilat une besoj vertet

are of important architecture.

jane te nje arkitekture te rendesishme.

These are the dimensions that I like to work with.

Keto jane dimensionet qe me pelqen te punoj.

It's something very personal.

Eshte dicka shume personale.

It's not, perhaps, the dimensions appreciated by art critics

Ndoshta, jo dimensionet qe pelqejne kritiket e artit

or architecture critics or city planners.

ose te arkitektures ose projektuesit e qyteteve.

But I think these are the necessary oxygen

Por, une mendoj, keto jane oksigjeni i nevojshem

for us to live in buildings, to live in cities,

qe ne te jetojme ne ndertesa, te jetojme ne qytete,

to connect ourselves in a social space.

te lidhemi ne hapesiren sociale.

And I therefore believe that optimism is what drives architecture forward.

Dhe besoj, se optimizmi eshte ajo qe e con arkitekturen perpara.

It's the only profession where you have to believe in the future.

Eshte i vetmi profesion qe duhet te besoni ne te ardhmen.

You can be a general, a politician, an economist who is depressed,

Mund te jesh nje gjeneral, nje politikan, nje ekonomist depresiv,

a musician in a minor key, a painter in dark colors.

muzikant me shperndarje te vogel, piktor i toneve te erreta.

But architecture is that complete ecstasy that the future can be better.

Por arkitektura eshte ajo ekstaze komplete qe e ardhmja mund te jete me e bukur.

And it is that belief that I think drives society.

Dhe, ky besim e con shoqerine perpara.

And today we have a kind of evangelical pessimism all around us.

Sot, ne kemi nje lloj pesimizmi evangjelist rreth nesh.

And yet it is in times like this

E pra, jane kohe si keto

that I think architecture can thrive with big ideas,

qe mendoj se arkitektura mund te lulezoje me ide te mrekullueshme,

ideas that are not small. Think of the great cities.

ide qe s'jane te vogla. Mendoni qytetet e medha.

Think of the Empire State Building, the Rockefeller Center.

Mendoni Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center.

They were built in times that were

Ata u ndertuan ne kohe qe ishin

not really the best of times in a certain way.

jo kohet me te mira, ne njefare menyre.

And yet that energy and power of architecture

Dhe prape energjia dhe fuqia e kesaj arkitekture

has driven an entire social and political space that these buildings occupy.

ka drejtuar hapesiren e tere sociale dhe publike qe zene keto ndertesa.

So again, I am a believer in the expressive.

Prape, besoj ne te shprehurit.

I have never been a fan of the neutral.

Asnjehere s'kam perkrahur neutralen.

I don't like neutrality in life, in anything.

S'me pelqen neutraliteti ne jete, ne asgje.

I think expression.

Une mendoj ne termat e shprehjes.

And it's like espresso coffee, you know, you take the essence of the coffee.

Dhe eshte si kafe ekspres, qe merr esencen e kafes.

That's what expression is.

Kjo eshte shprehja.

It's been missing in much of the architecture,

Mungon ne pjesen me te madhe te arkitektures.

because we think architecture is the realm of the neutered,

sepse ne mendojme qe arkitektura eshte ne sferen e neutralitetit,

the realm of the kind of a state that has no opinion,

ne nje gjendje te lire te mendimit

that has no value.

qe s'ka vlere.

And yet, I believe it is the expression --

Dhe prape, une besoj ne shprehjen--

expression of the city, expression of our own space --

shprehjen e qytetit, shprehjen e hapesires sone--

that gives meaning to architecture.

qe i jep kuptimin arkitektures.

And, of course, expressive spaces are not mute.

Dhe, natyrisht, hapsirat shprehese nuk jane pa ze.

Expressive spaces are not spaces

Hapesirat shprehese nuk jane ato

that simply confirm what we already know.

qe thjeshte konfirmojne ate qe e dime tashme.

Expressive spaces may disturb us.

Hapesirat shprehese mund te na shqetesojne.

And I think that's also part of life.

Dhe, mendoj qe kjo eshte pjese e jetes.

Life is not just an anesthetic to make us smile,

Jeta nuk eshte vetem anestezik qe te ben te buzeqeshesh.

but to reach out across the abyss of history,

Por edhe te shfaqesh ne thellesite e historise

to places we have never been,

drejt vendeve ku s'kemi qene ndonjehere,

and would have perhaps been, had we not been so lucky.

e ndoshta, nuk do te kishim qene, po te mos kishim fat.

So again, radical versus conservative.

Dhe prape, krahasuar me konservatoret radikale.

Radical, what does it mean? It's something which is rooted,

Radikale, ne c'kuptim? Ne kuptimin qe dicka ka rrenje.

and something which is rooted deep in a tradition.

Rrenje te thella ne traditen.

And I think that is what architecture is, it's radical.

Une mendoj qe kjo eshte arkitektura, radikale.

It's not just a conservation in formaldehyde

Nuk eshte per te ruajtur format e vdekura

of dead forms.

ne formalin.

It is actually a living connection

Eshte per nje lidhje te gjalle e reale

to the cosmic event that we are part of,

me eventin kozmik pjese e se ciles jemi,

and a story that is certainly ongoing.

dhe nje histori qe eshte ne zhvillim.

It's not something that has a good ending or a bad ending.

Nuk eshte dicka me rezultat te mire apo te keq.

It's actually a story in which our acts themselves

Ne realitet eshte nje histori ku veprimet tona

are pushing the story in a particular way.

e shtyjne historine ne nje menyre te vecante.

So again I am a believer in the radical architecture.

Pra edhe njehere besoj ne arkitekturen radikale.

You know the Soviet architecture of that building

E dini qe arkitektura sovjetike e kesaj ndertese

is the conservation.

eshte ruajtja.

It's like the old Las Vegas used to be.

Eshte sic ka qene Las Vegas i vjeter.

It's about conserving emotions, conserving the traditions

Eshte ruajtja e emocioneve, e traditave

that have obstructed the mind in moving forward

qe e pengon mendjen te shkoje perpara

and of course what is radical is to confront them.

dhe pa dyshim eshte radikale t'i kundervihesh atyre.

And I think our architecture is a confrontation

Mendoj qe arkitektura eshte konfrontim

with our own senses.

me senset tona.

Therefore I believe it should not be cool.

Prandaj mendoj qe nuk duhet te jete e ftohte.

There is a lot of appreciation for the kind of cool architecture.

E pelqejne shume arkitekturen e ftohte.

I've always been an opponent of it. I think emotion is needed.

Une kam qene gjithnje ne kundershtim. Mendoj qe emocioni duhet.

Life without emotion would really not be life.

Jeta pa emocion nuk do te ishte jete.

Even the mind is emotional.

Bile dhe mendja eshte emocionale.

There is no reason which does not take a position

Nuk ka arsye qe nuk merr pozicion

in the ethical sphere, in the philosophical mystery of what we are.

ne sferen etike, mbi misterin filozofik te te qenit.

So I think emotion is a dimension

Une mendoj, emocioni eshte nje dimension

that is important to introduce into city space, into city life.

qe ka rendesi te paraqitet ne hapesiren dhe jeten e qytetit.

And of course, we are all about the struggle of emotions.

Natyrisht, ne jemi per nje beteje emocionesh.

And I think that is what makes the world a wondrous place.

Dhe mendoj se e ben boten nje vend te mahnitshem.

And of course, the confrontation of the cool, the unemotional with emotion,

Pa dyshim, konfrontimi i te ftohtes, joemocionalja me emocionin,

is a conversation that I think

eshte nje bisede qe mendoj

cities themselves have fostered.

qe vete qytetet e kane inkurajuar.

I think that is the progress of cities.

Eshte zhvillimi i qyteteve.

It's not only the forms of cities,

Jo vetem forma e tyre,

but the fact that they incarnate emotions,

por fakti qe ata misherojne emocione,

not just of those who build them,

jo vetem te atyre qe i ndertuan,

but of those who live there as well.

por te atyre qe jetojne aty, po ashtu.

Inexplicable versus understood. You know, too often we want to understand everything.

E pashpjegueshme kundrejt e kuptueshme.Shume shpesh ne duam te kuptojme gjithcka.

But architecture is not the language of words.

Por arkitektura nuk eshte gjuhe fjalesh.

It's a language. But it is not a language that can be reduced

Eshte nje gjuhe. Por jo gjuhe qe mund te reduktohet

to a series of programmatic notes that we can verbally write.

ne seri shenimesh te programuara qe mund t'i shkruajme me fjale.

Too many buildings that you see outside that are so banal

Shume ndertesa qe shihni qe jane aq te rendomta

tell you a story, but the story is very short,

ju thone nje histori, por ajo eshte shume e shkurter,

which says, "We have no story to tell you."

qe nenkupton, "Ne s'kemi asgje per t'ju thene."

(Laughter)

(te qeshura)

So the important thing actually,

Pra, gjeja kryesore

is to introduce the actual architectural dimensions,

eshte te paraqesesh dimensionet arkitekturale

which might be totally inexplicable in words,

qe mund te jene krejt te pashpjegueshme me fjale,

because they operate in proportions,

sepse ato shprehen ne proporcione,

in materials, in light.

materiale, drite.

They connect themselves into various sources,

Ato lidhen ne burime te ndryshme,

into a kind of complex vector matrix

ne nje lloj matriksi vektorial te komplikuar

that isn't really frontal

qe s'eshte ballor

but is really embedded in the lives,

por i nderthurur ne jetet,

and in the history of a city, and of a people.

dhe historine e nje qyteti dhe nje popullate.

So again, the notion that a building should just be explicit

Nocioni qe nje ndertese duhet te jete e qarte

I think is a false notion,

mendoj eshte fallco,

which has reduced architecture into banality.

dhe qe e ka kthyer arkitekturen ne nje gje te rendomte.

Hand versus the computer.

Dora kundrejt kompjuterit.

Of course, what would we be without computers?

Natyrisht, c'do te ishim pa kompjuterat?

Our whole practice depends on computing.

E gjithe puna jone varet nga kompjuterat.

But the computer should not just be the glove of the hand;

Por, kompjuteri s'duhet te jete doreze per doren;

the hand should really be the driver of the computing power.

dora duhet te jete ajo qe drejton fuqine e kompjuterit.

Because I believe that the hand

Sepse besoj qe dora

in all its primitive, in all its physiological obscurity,

sado primitive, sado e pakuptueshme fiziologjikisht,

has a source, though the source is unknown,

ka nje burim, qe edhe pse eshte i panjohur,

though we don't have to be mystical about it.

s'duhet te behemi mistike,

We realize that the hand has been given us

E kuptojme qe dora na eshte dhene

by forces that are beyond our own autonomy.

nga forca pertej autonomise sone.

And I think when I draw drawings

Dhe mendoj kur bej vizatime

which may imitate the computer, but are not computer drawings --

qe mund te imitojne kompjuterin, por s'jane bere me kompjuter--

drawings that can come from sources

keto vizatime qe dalin nga burime

that are completely not known, not normal, not seen,

krejt te panjohura, jo te zakonshme, te papara,

yet the hand -- and that's what I really, to all of you who are working --

dora-- kjo eshte per te gjithe ju qe punoni--

how can we make the computer respond to our hand

si te bejme kompjuterin t'i pergjigjet dores

rather than the hand responding to the computer.

me teper se dora t'i pergjigjet kompjuterit.

I think that's part of what the complexity of architecture is.

Mendoj qe kjo eshte nje pjese e kompleksitetit te arkitektures.

Because certainly we have gotten used to the propaganda

Sepse ne jemi mesuar me propaganden

that the simple is the good. But I don't believe it.

qe e thjeshta eshte e mire. Por une s'e besoj.

Listening to all of you, the complexity of thought,

Duke ju degjuar te gjithe ju, kompleksiteti i mendimit,

the complexity of layers of meaning is overwhelming.

kompleksiteti i shtresave te mendimit eshte shume i madh.

And I think we shouldn't shy away in architecture,

Une mendoj qe ne arkitekture nuk duhet te terhiqemi.

You know, brain surgery, atomic theory,

E dini kirurgjia cerebrale, teoria atomike,

genetics, economics

gjenetika, ekonomia,

are complex complex fields.

jane fusha jashzakonisht komplekse.

There is no reason that architecture should shy away

Nuk ka arsye qe arkitektura te terhiqet

and present this illusory world of the simple.

dhe te paraqese boten iluzionuese te se thjeshtes.

It is complex. Space is complex.

Eshte komplekse. Hapesira eshte komplekse.

Space is something that folds out of itself into completely new worlds.

Hapsira eshte dicka qe shpalos vetveten ne terma krejt te reja.

And as wondrous as it is,

Dhe, kaq e mahnitshme sa eshte

it cannot be reduced to a kind of simplification

nuk mund te reduktohet ne nje loj thjeshtezimi

that we have often come to be admired.

qe shpesh admirohet.

And yet, our lives are complex.

Jetet tona jane komplekse.

Our emotions are complex.

Emocionet jane komplekse.

Our intellectual desires are complex.

Deshirat intelektuale jane komplekse.

So I do believe that architecture as I see it

Besoj qe arkitektura sic e shoh

needs to mirror that complexity in every single space that we have,

duhet te pasqyroje kete kompleksitet ne cdo hapesire qe kemi,

in every intimacy that we possess.

ne cdo maredhenie te ngushte qe kemi.

Of course that means that architecture is political.

Kjo do te thote qe arkitektura eshte politike.

The political is not an enemy of architecture.

Ajo nuk eshte armik per arkitekturen.

The politeama is the city. It's all of us together.

"Politeia" eshte qyteti. Jemi ne te gjithe.

And I've always believed that the act of architecture,

Gjithmone kam besuar qe ajo qe ben arkitektura,

even a private house, when somebody else will see it, is a political act,

edhe ne nje shtepi private, kur do te shihet nga nje njeri tjeter, eshte nje akt politik,

because it will be visible to others.

sepse do te shihet nga te tjeret.

And we live in a world which is connecting us more and more.

Ne jetojme ne nje bote qe na lidhe gjithnje e me shume.

So again, the evasion of that sphere,

Pra, perseri, per te shpetuar kete sfere,

which has been so endemic to that sort of pure architecture,

qe ka qene kaq e perhapur ne tipin e arkitektures se paster

the autonomous architecture that is just an abstract object

arkitekturen autonome qe eshte vetem nje objekt abstrakt,

has never appealed to me.

nuk me ka terhequr ndonjehere.

And I do believe that this interaction

Dhe, besoj, qe kjo maredhenie

with the history, with history that is often very difficult,

me historine, qe eshte shpesh shume e veshtire,

to grapple with it, to create

ta kapesh ate, te krijosh

a position that is beyond our normal expectations and to create a critique.

nje pozicion qe eshte pertej shpresave normale, dhe te gjenerosh nje kritike.

Because architecture is also the asking of questions.

Sepse arkitektura po ashtu ben pyetje.

It's not only the giving of answers.

Jo vetem jep pergjigje.

It's also, just like life, the asking of questions.

Eshte ashtu si dhe jeta, qe ben pyetje.

Therefore it is important that it be real.

Prandaj eshte e rendesishme qe te jete e vertete.

You know we can simulate almost anything.

E dini qe mund te simulojme pothuaj cdo gje.

But the one thing that can be ever simulated

Por e vetmja qe nuk mund te simulohet

is the human heart, the human soul.

eshte zemra e njeriut, shpirti njerezor.

And architecture is so closely intertwined with it

Dhe arkitektura eshte shume e nderthurur me te

because we are born somewhere and we die somewhere.

sepse ne lindim diku dhe vdesim diku.

So the reality of architecture is visceral. It's not intellectual.

E verteta e arkitektures eshte e brendshme. Jo intelektuale.

It's not something that comes to us from books and theories.

Jo dicka qe vjen nga librat dhe teorite.

It's the real that we touch -- the door, the window,

Eshte ajo qe prekim --dera, dritarja,

the threshold, the bed --

pragu, krevati---

such prosaic objects. And yet,

objekte kaq prozaike. Dhe prape,

I try, in every building, to take that virtual world,

perpiqem ne cdo ndertese, te marr nga bota virtuale,

which is so enigmatic and so rich,

qe eshte kaq enigmatike dhe e pasur,

and create something in the real world.

dhe te krijoj dicka ne boten reale.

Create a space for an office,

Nje hapesire zyre,

a space of sustainability

nje hapesire te qendrueshme

that really works between that virtuality

qe punon vertet midis virtuales

and yet can be realized as something real.

dhe mund te realizohet si dicka reale.

Unexpected versus habitual.

E papritshmja kundrejt te zakonshmes.

What is a habit? It's just a shackle for ourselves.

Cfare eshte zakoni? Eshte nje prange per veten tone.

It's a self-induced poison.

Eshte nje helm i vet-detyruar.

So the unexpected is always unexpected.

Pra e papritura eshte gjithnje e papritur.

You know, it's true, the cathedrals, as unexpected,

Eshte e vertete, katedralet, sa te papritshme,

will always be unexpected.

do te jene gjithnje te papritshme.

You know Frank Gehry's buildings, they will continue to be unexpected in the future.

Ndertesat e Frank Gehry, do te vazhdojne te jene surprizuese ne te ardhmen.

So not the habitual architecture that instills in us

Pra, jo arkitektura e zakonshme qe na ka rrenjosur

the false sort of stability,

sensin fallco te stabilitetit

but an architecture that is full of tension,

por nje arkitekture qe eshte plot tension,

an architecture that goes beyond itself

qe shkon pertej vetvetes

to reach a human soul and a human heart,

per te arritur shpirtin njerezor e zemren njerezore,

and that breaks out of the shackles of habits.

dhe qe thyen prangat e zakonit.

And of course habits are enforced by architecture.

Natyrisht zakonet perforcohen nga arkitektura.

When we see the same kind of architecture

Kur shohim te njejtin tip arkitekture,

we become immured in that world of those angles,

mesohemi me kete lloj hapsire te varur ne keto kende,

of those lights, of those materials.

ne keto drita e keto materiale.

We think the world really looks like our buildings.

Ne mendojme qe bota duket vertet si ndertesat.

And yet our buildings are pretty much limited by the techniques and wonders

Dhe prape ndertesat jane te limituara nga teknikat dhe mrekullite

that have been part of them.

qe jane pjese e tyre.

So again, the unexpected which is also the raw.

Ja pra, e papritshmja qe eshte po ashtu e paperpunuar.

And I often think of the raw and the refined.

Mendoj shpesh per ate qe eshte e paperpunuar dhe ate qe eshte e perpunuar.

What is raw? The raw, I would say

Cfare do te thote e paperpunuar? Une do te thoja

is the naked experience, untouched by luxury,

qe eshte eksperience e paster, e paprekur nga salltanetet,

untouched by expensive materials,

nga materialet e shtrenjta,

untouched by the kind of refinement

e paprekur nga keto rafinime

that we associate with high culture.

qe shoqerizohen me kulturen e larte.

So the rawness, I think, in space,

Pra, une mendoj,

the fact that sustainability can actually, in the future

fakti qe qendrueshmeria mund, ne te ardhmen

translate into a raw space,

te perkthehet ne hapesire te pare,

a space that isn't decorated,

nje hapesire e padekoruar,

a space that is not mannered in any source,

nje hapesire e pamanipuluar ne ndonje menyre,

but a space that might be cool in terms of its temperature,

por hapesire qe mund te jete e ftohte ne termat e temperatures,

might be refractive to our desires.

qe mund te jete e pabindur ndaj deshirave tona.

A space that doesn't always follow us

Nje hapesire qe nuk na ndjek gjithnje

like a dog that has been trained to follow us,

si nje qen qe eshte trajnuar te na ndjeke,

but moves ahead into directions of demonstrating

por ecen perpara ne drejtime qe tregon

other possibilities, other experiences,

mundesi te tjera, eksperienca te tjera

that have never been part of the vocabulary of architecture.

qe nuk kane qene ndonjehere pjese e fjalorit te arkitektures.

And of course that juxtaposition is of great interest to me

Dhe per mua natyrisht ky kontrast eshte shume interesant

because it creates a kind of a spark of new energy.

sepse krijon nje flash te nje energjie te re.

And so I do like something which is pointed, not blunt,

Me pelqen dicka qe vihet ne dukje, jo e shperndare,

something which is focused on reality,

dicka qe eshte e fokusuar ne realitet,

something that has the power, through its leverage,

dicka qe ne saje te influences, ka fuqine

to transform even a very small space.

te transformoje edhe nje hapsire shume te vogel.

So architecture maybe is not so big, like science,

Pra, ndoshta arkitektura nuk eshte aq madhe sa shkenca

but through its focal point

por, me piken e saj te fokusimit

it can leverage in an Archimedian way

mund te influencoje ne menyren e Arkimedit

what we think the world is really about.

perceptimin qe kemi per boten.

And often it takes just a building

Shpesh mjafton nje ndertese e vetme

to change our experience of what could be done, what has been done,

per te ndryshuar eksperiencen tone te asaj mund te behet ose qe eshte bere,

how the world has remained both in between stability and instability.

sesi bota ka qendruar ne mes te te dyjave te stabilitetit dhe paqendrueshmerise.

And of course buildings have their shapes.

Pa dyshim, ndertesat kane format e tyre.

Those shapes are difficult to change.

Keto forma jane te veshtira per t'u ndryshuar.

And yet, I do believe that in every social space,

Une besoj qe ne cdo hapesire sociale,

in every public space,

ne cdo hapesire publike,

there is a desire to communicate more

ekziston deshira per te komunikuar me shume

than just that blunt thought, that blunt technique,

sesa nje mendim te qete.

but something that pinpoints, and can point in various directions

por dicka qe lokalizohet, dhe drejtohet ne drejtime te ndryshme

forward, backward, sideways and around.

perpara, prapa, anash dhe rreth e rrotull.

So that is indeed what is memory.

Pra, kjo eshte kujtesa.

So I believe that my main interest is to memory.

Mendoj qe interesi im kryesor eshte kujtesa.

Without memory we would be amnesiacs.

Pa kujtese do te ishim amneziake.

We would not know which way we were going,

Nuk do te dinim ne c'rruge po shkonim,

and why we are going where we're going.

dhe pse po shkonim atje ku po shkonim.

So I've been never interested in the forgettable reuse,

Nuk me ka interesuar ndonjehere riciklimi i parendesishem,

rehashing of the same things over and over again,

riperdorja e te njejtave gjera prape e prape,

which, of course, get accolades of critics.

gje e cila, natyrisht, shperblehet nga kritiket.

Critics like the performance to be repeated again and again the same way.

Kritiket pelqejne interpretimin qe perseritet ne te njejten menyre.

But I rather play something

Por une me mire luaj dicka

completely unheard of,

te padegjuar ndonjehere,

and even with flaws,

dhe bile me gabime,

than repeat the same thing over and over which has been hollowed

sesa te perseris te njejten gje prape e prape, e cila eshte gerryer

by its meaninglessness.

nga mungesa e kuptimit.

So again, memory is the city, memory is the world.

Dhe prape, kujtesa eshte qyteti, eshte bota.

Without the memory there would be no story to tell.

Pa kujtese s'do te kete histori per te treguar.

There would be nowhere to turn.

Nuk do te ishte nje vend per t'u kthyer.

The memorable, I think, is really our world, what we think the world is.

Ajo qe eshte e paharrueshme per mua, eshte bota jone, ashtu sic e mendojme.

And it's not only our memory,

Dhe s'eshte vetem memorja.

but those who remember us,

but ato qe na e kujtojne,

which means that architecture is not mute.

qe do te thote qe arkitektura nuk eshte e heshtur.

It's an art of communication.

Eshte nje art komunikimi.

It tells a story. The story can reach into obscure desires.

Tregon nje histori. Historia arrin ne deshira te erreta.

It can reach into sources that are not explicitly available.

Mund te arrije ne burime jo shprehimisht ne dispozicion.

It can reach into millennia

Mund te arrije mijevjecare

that have been buried,

qe kane qene varrosur,

and return them in a just and unexpected equity.

dhe t'i ktheje ata me nje kapital te papritur.

So again, I think the notion that

Prape, ideja qe

the best architecture is silent has never appealed to me.

arkitektura me e mire eshte e heshtur s'me ka pelqyer.

Silence maybe is good for a cemetery but not for a city.

Heshtja mund te jete e mire po ne nje varreze, jo per nje qytet.

Cities should be full of vibrations, full of sound, full of music.

Qytetet duhet te jene plot dridhje, plot zera, plot muzike.

And that indeed is the architectural mission

Ky eshte misioni i arkitektures

that I believe is important,

qe mendoj eshte kryesor,

is to create spaces that are vibrant,

eshte te krijoje hapsira ngazelluese,

that are pluralistic,

pluraliste,

that can transform the most prosaic activities,

qe mund te transformojne aktivitetet me prozaike,

and raise them to a completely different expectation.

dhe t'i ngrene ato ne nje shprese krejt tjeter.

Create a shopping center, a swimming place

Te krijosh nje qender tregetare, nje pishine

that is more like a museum than like entertainment.

me te ngjashem me nje muzeum sesa vend argetimi.

And these are our dreams.

Keto jane endrat tona.

And of course risk. I think architecture should be risky.

Natyrisht ka rrezik. Mendoj arkitektura duhet te mare ne sy rrezikun.

You know it costs a lot of money and so on, but yes,

E dini qe kushton shume dhe te tjera, por

it should not play it safe.

nuk duhet te jete pa rrezik.

It should not play it safe, because if it plays it safe

Nese je krejt i sigurt,

it's not moving us in a direction that we want to be.

nuk na con ne ate drejtim qe duam te shkojme.

And I think, of course,

Dhe mendoj, natyrisht,

risk is what underlies the world.

rreziku eshte ne bazen e botes.

World without risk would not be worth living.

Bota pa rrezik nuk do t'ja vlente te jetohej.

So yes, I do believe that the risk we take in every building.

Pra, besoj qe marrim ne sy rrezikun ne cdo ndertese.

Risks to create spaces that have never been cantilevered to that extent.

Rrezik per te krijuar hapesira qe nuk kane qene te spikatura.

Risks of spaces that have never been

Rrezikun e hapesirave qe nuk kane qene

so dizzying,

kaq marramendese

as they should be, for a pioneering city.

sic duhet te jene ne nje qytet pioner.

Risks that really move architecture

Rreziqe qe vertet e levizin arkitekturen

even with all its flaws, into a space which is much better

pavaresisht nga gabimet, drejt nje hapesire shume me te mire

that the ever again repeated

qe nuk perseritet vazhdimisht

hollowness of a ready-made thing.

dhe zbrazet nga gjerat ne dispozion.

And of course that is finally what I believe architecture to be.

Kjo eshte ajo qe besoj se duhet te jete arkitektura.

It's about space. It's not about fashion.

Eshte hapesira. Nuk eshte mode.

It's not about decoration.

Jo per dekoracion.

It's about creating with minimal means

Eshte te krijosh kushte minimale

something which can not be repeated,

dicka te paperseritshme,

cannot be simulated in any other sphere.

dhe jo te simulueshme

And there of course is the space that we need to breathe,

Eshte hapesira qe na duhet te marrim fryme,

is the space we need to dream.

eshte hapesira qe na duhet te enderrojme

These are the spaces that are

Keto jane hapesirat qe

not just luxurious spaces for some of us,

nuk jane hapesira luksi per disa nga ne,

but are important for everybody in this world.

por jane te rendesishme per cdo njeri ne kete bote.

So again, it's not about the changing fashions, changing theories.

Pra, nuk eshte nderrimi i modes, nderrimi i teorive.

It's about carving out a space for trees.

Eshte te gerryesh nje hapesire per peme.

It's carving out a space where nature can enter

Te gerryesh qe natyra te penetroje

the domestic world of a city.

boten e brendshme te qytetit.

A space where something which has never seen a light of day

Nje hapesire ku dicka qe s'ka pare ndonjehere drite

can enter into the inner workings of a density.

mund te penetroje ne funksionimin e brendshem te shtresave.

And I think that is really the nature of architecture.

Kjo mendoj qe eshte vertet natyra e arkitektures.

Now I am a believer in democracy.

Tani, une besoj ne demokraci.

I don't like beautiful buildings

Nuk me pelqejne ndertesat e bukura

built for totalitarian regimes.

te ndertuara per regjimet totalitare.

Where people cannot speak, cannot vote, cannot do anything.

Ku njerezit nuk kane te drejte te flasin, votojne.

We too often admire those buildings. We think they are beautiful.

Shpesh i admirojme keto ndertesa. Mendojme se jane te bukura.

And yet when I think of the poverty of society

Kur mendoj per varferine e shoqerise

which doesn't give freedom to its people,

qe s'i jep liri njerezve,

I don't admire those buildings.

nuk i admiroj keto ndertesa.

So democracy, as difficult as it is, I believe in it.

Pra demokracia, aq e veshtire sa eshte, une besoj ne te.

And of course, at Ground Zero what else?

Dhe natyrisht, Ground Zero, cfare tjeter?

It's such a complex project.

Eshte nje projekt aq kompleks.

It's emotional. There is so many interests.

Eshte kaq emocionale. Ka aq shume interesa.

It's political. There is so many parties to this project.

Me aspekte politike. Jane aq shume grupe politike.

There is so many interests. There's money. There's political power.

Ka shume interesa. Para. Fuqi politike.

There are emotions of the victims.

Jane emocionet e viktimave.

And yet, in all its messiness, in all its difficulties,

Dhe prape, ne gjithe kete bela. me gjithe veshtiresite,

I would not have liked somebody to say,

nuk do te me pelqente qe dikush te thoshte,

"This is the tabula rasa, mister architect -- do whatever you want."

"Kjo eshte tabula rasa, zoti arkitekt- bej c'te duash."

I think nothing good will come out of that.

Mendoj se nuk do perfitonim ndonje gje.

I think architecture is about consensus.

Mendoj qe arkitektura eshte nje marreveshje e pergjithshme.

And it is about the dirty word "compromise." Compromise is not bad.

Me fjalen e shemtuar "kompromis". Kompromisi s'eshte i gabuar.

Compromise, if it's artistic,

Kompromisi, nese eshte artistik,

if it is able to cope with its strategies --

nese mund te perballoje strategjite--

and there is my first sketch and the last rendering --

dhe ja ku eshte skica e pare dhe projekti final--

it's not that far away.

nuk jane aq larg.

And yet, compromise, consensus,

Dhe prape, kompromis, mareveshje,

that is what I believe in.

eshte ajo qe besoj.

And Ground Zero, despite all its difficulties, it's moving forward.

Dhe Ground Zero, megjithe veshtiresite, po shkon perpara.

It's difficult. 2011, 2013. Freedom Tower, the memorial.

Eshte e veshtire. 2011, 2013. Freedom Tower, memoriali i te reneve.

And that is where I end.

Dhe ketu do ta mbyll.

I was inspired when I came here as an immigrant

Une isha i frymezuar kur erdha si imigrant ketu

on a ship like millions of others,

ne nje anije si miliona te tjere,

looking at America from that point of view.

dhe qe andej shikoja Ameriken.

This is America. This is liberty.

Kjo eshte Amerika. Kjo eshte liria.

This is what we dream about. Its individuality,

Kjo eshte ajo qe ne enderrojme. Individualiteti i saj

demonstrated in the skyline. It's resilience.

demostrohet ne horizont. Rezistenca e saj.

And finally, it's the freedom that America represents,

Dhe ne fund, eshte liria qe paraqet Amerika,

not just to me, as an immigrant, but to everyone in the world. Thank you.

jo vetem te une, si emigrant, por te cdonjeri ne bote. Falemnderit.

(Applause)

(Duartroktje)

Chris Anderson: I've got a question.

Chris Anderson: Kam nje pyetje.

So have you come to peace

A keni bere paqe

with the process that happened at Ground Zero

me proceset qe ndodhen ne Ground Zero

and the loss of the original, incredible design that you came up with?

dhe humbjes se projektit jashtzakonisht origjinal qe kishit propozuar?

Daniel Libeskind: Look. We have to cure ourselves

Daniel Libeskind: Shiko. Duhet ta sherojme veten

of the notion that we are authoritarian,

nga ideja qe ne kemi autoritetin,

that we can determine everything that happens.

dhe qe mund te percaktojme cdo gje qe ndodh.

We have to rely on others, and shape the process in the best way possible.

Ne duhet te mbeshtetemi tek te tjeret dhe te trajtojme procesin ne menyren me te mire.

I came from the Bronx. I was taught not to be a loser,

Une vij nga Bronx. Me mesuan te mos jem deshtues,

not to be somebody who just gives up in a fight.

te mos dorezohem.

You have to fight for what you believe. You don't always win

Duhet te luftosh per ate qe beson. Jo gjithnje fiton

everything you want to win. But you can steer the process.

cdo gje qe do te fitosh. Por e drejton procesin.

And I believe that what will be built at Ground Zero

Dhe, besoj qe ajo qe do te ndertojme ne Ground Zero

will be meaningful, will be inspiring,

do te jete kuptimplote, frymezuese,

will tell other generations of the sacrifices,

do t'u tregoje brezave te tjere per sakrificat,

of the meaning of this event.

dhe kuptimin e kesaj ngjarjeje.

Not just for New York, but for the world.

Jo vetem per New York por per gjithe boten.

Chris Anderson: Thank you so much, Daniel Libeskind.

Chris Anderson: falemnderit shume, Daniel Libeskind.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)