Storm clouds are gathering over the head of controversial Polish architect Daniel Libeskind, noted designer of many a pointy, contemporary construction. Not a month after Architect's Newspaper published Libeskind's angular plans for Northern Ireland's $27.6M Maze Long Kesh Peace building and Conflict Resolution Center that First Minister of Northern Ireland Peter Robinson retracted his support for the building, saying it would "be wrong to proceed with the Maze peace centre without consensus," the BBC reports.
The structure inherently controversial because it will be built on the site of Her Majesty's Prison Maze, the detention facility that housed paramilitary prisoners during Northern Ireland's The Troubles, the ethno-nationalist conflict that roiled here from the late '60s to early '00s. On top of that, Rory Olcayto of the Architects' Journal has said, according to Arch Daily, of the project: "the problem is, unlike the Holocaust? there's no consensus on that specific matter, nor much else that happened during Northern Ireland's long sectarian war." It's unclear if criticism and censure is enough to officially halt construction, but if other ultra-controversial memorials (ahem Eisenhower Memorial ahem) are any indication, it does not bode well for the project's timeline.
· Future Uncertain for Daniel Libeskind's Maze Peace Centre [Arch Daily]
· All Daniel Libeskind coverage [Curbed National]
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