Spotlight-seeking architect Daniel Libeskind turns 63 today. The one and only Yogi Berra is turning 84. Actor Gabriel Byrne is 59. Painter Frank Stella is turning 73. Skateboarding king Tony Hawk is 41. Former Clinton advisor (and now cable commentator) Paul Begala is turning 48. The man who heads up homeland security for the state, Michael Balboni, is 50. Literary agent Amy Berkower is turning 55. Stephen Baldwin is 43. Actor Jason Biggs is 31. Emilio Estevez is 47. Composer Burt Bacharach is turning 81. Actress Samantha Mathis is turning 39. And Kim Fields, who will forever be known as Tootie from the The Facts of Life, is celebrating her 40th.

Libeskind isn't widely admired for his architecture—purists consider him a blowhard—but he knows the value of the press, which is probably why he's one of the most famous architects in America.

According to architect Eli Attia, Daniel Libeskind's "wedge of light" that would allow the sun to shine on the new World Trade Center memorial plaza without interruption will, it seems, be broken by shadow from the nearby Millenium Hotel. Libeskind's response, paraphrased: "Um, yeah...well, uh...that's what I meant..."
Shadows to fall, literally, over 9/11 wedge of light [NYT]

Daniel Libeskind must be working overtime on PR. He has apparently convinced people in New York that he's the consumate performer, and people in Denver that New Yorkers consider him a celebrity. Wife Nina Libeskind seems to be doing much of the cheerleading: "There's not a single block we walk without someone jumping out and saying, 'Mr. Libeskind, thank you for what you are doing.' Everyone has been nice.'"
A blueprint to normalcy for architect [Rocky Mountain News]

Metropolis Executive Editor Martin Pedersen on architect Daniel Libeskind's presentation to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation: "He was better than the best press secretary, the slickest politician. Libeskind called a question about the dangers of building retail space that looked like everyone else's retail space 'profound.' He dodged questions that he didn't want to answer by answering ones that he did. And when asked about how West Street would be resolveda dicey question that involves billions of dollars and, potentially, thousands of angry Battery Park residents-he disarmed us completely by outlining the limits of his power. 'That's a decision that goes higher up than the architect,' he replied."
The Danny Libeskind Show [Metropolis]

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The Observer's Tom McGeveran does a little follow-up reporting on our March 4 item about a conversation between WTC finalists Stephen Holl and Peter Eisenman about WTC winner Daniel Libeskind and his wife, Nina: "'It's so inflammatory, and it's really not in line with our business or what we're trying to promote,' said a woman who answered the phone at Mr. Holl's office, adding, 'That conversation didn't take place,' before hanging up the telephone." Well, of course it's not in line with what you're trying to promote.
Libeskindling [Observer]

· Daniel's Manhattan architecture
· Dirty origami (Finally! Another use for Us Weekly!) [via Muxway]
· Salon's gossip roundup

The Observer profiles Daniel and Nina Libeskind and finds some rather interesting background information: Fearing that their daughter would self-identify as German when they were living in Berlin, they developed a policy that no Germans over the age of 60 were allowed to talk to their children.
The Libeskinds: Winning architect brings wife along [Observer]

A reader sends in a bit from the Friday launch of WTC architect Steven Holl's 32, a beijing-ny architecture magazine. Our source says, "Open bars apparently being a rarity among architecture staffers, it was a jam-packed frenzy."

The New Yorker's Paul Goldberger raises the possibility that Daniel Libeskind's sunken memorial gets built at Ground Zero but the design for the buildings is discarded by the developers. "Libeskind s plan is easier to eviscerate than the THINK group's would have been."
The critics: the skyline [New Yorkers]

Felix Salmon speculates that Daniel Libeskind's plan won because Libeskind knew how to navigate the bureaucracy: "Given the very high standard of many of the shortlisted plans, I think that the ultimate reason that Libeskind won was that he was most attuned to the process, and most willing to present his ideas as a work in progress, something which could and should reflect the views of all the stakeholders in the site, and not just his own ego."
Libeskind wins [FelixSalmon.com]

Discuss the new trade center plans:
· Plastic: The spiky one wins
· Wired New York: Libeskind chosen
· Metafilter: A complex of angular buildings and a 1,776 foot spire

Daniel Libeskind. Despite a last minute wobble, the architect of Berlin's Jewish Museum, is to design the replacements for the Twin Towers, according to AP. Libeskind's a great self-promoter, sports a mean pair of glasses, but some critics said he was emotionally manipulative. And we never liked the 1,776 foot spire, as if the American Revolution was just a magic number.
Final Design Chosen for Future WTC Site [1010wins]

Maybe Daniel Libeskind won't win the commission to rebuild the World Trade Center site, after all. The architect, designer of the Jewish Museum in Berlin, mounted the most aggressive PR campaign of all the firms in contention. He hired multiple publicists, appeared on Oprah, set off a small trend in spectactle styles, and called for the resignation of the NYT architecture critic. New York may love a showman, but the panel, which makes its decision today, is said to be leaning toward THINK.
Panel Backs Think Team Design for Downtown [NYT]
Finalists for Ground Zero Design Pull Out the Stops[NYT]

NYT architecture critic Herbert Muschamp's distate for the Libeskind plan doesn't seem to be affecting official opinion. Mayor Mike and Governor Pataki both favor Libeskind, albeit not strongly, and Port Authority officials appear to be leaning the same way. Maybe the Anti-Muschamp letter writing campaign worked.
Support builds for one plan for trade center site [NYT]

Ah, architects, the perfect combination: alluringly creative, when they make those bold Gehry-esque brushstrokes; and reassuringly competent at the same time, because the art has to stand up. No wonder architects are so attractive to the broody Manhattan career woman in search of the father of her children, and equally compelling to writers looking to define the sensitive modern man. And that was before the high-profile competition to design a replacement for the Twin Towers. The latest: Manhattan eyewear retailers report booming demand for Daniel Libeskind glasses. The fireman look is so 2001.
Let Me Guess, You Must Be an Architect [NYT]

Archlog has a copy of the anti-Herbert Muschamp letter that came from Daniel Libeskind's Berlin office last week after Muschamp wrote a column favoring the THINK design. An excerpt: "Yesterday's article by Muschamp is over the top. He is just not reliable anymore. Please get rid of this guy."
Libeskind letter [Archlog via Kottke]

· "Full-Frontal Fashion" host Robert Verdi is throwing a brunch party at Bobby Flay's house this afternoon for "fashion heavy-hitters" Alex Wek, Iman and Fern Mallis. Barbecued celery sticks, valium, and martinis, anyone? [Page Six]
· The tempest in the Limoges teapot subsides: Vanity Fair issues an apology for Dame Edna's remarks about learning Spanish. [Page Six]
· Leona Helmsley waxes philosophical on "bows": "Yes, I think they're pretty. Very feminine. I like being feminine. You get away with murder." [Page Six]
· The Word reports that Annie Leibovitz is being sued by bond trader Robert Snider, who alleges she's been waging a terror campaign of unnecessary household repairs that inevitably result in collapsing walls, bursting water pipes, and the cutting of phone cords to run his family out of a building she wants to sell. In other news, Harper's Bazaar Editor Glenda Bailey is refusing to be photographed with ex-Editor, Kate Betts. Alsosomething something fashion week something bony carcasses something website something something. [The Word]
· An assistant in Daniel Libeskind's Berlin office started a letter writing campaign against NYT architecture critic Herbert Muschamp; Lauren Bush is doing her part to improve international relations by dating Palestinian-American Tammer Qaddumi; and Lizzie Grubman's getting reality TV show offers. [NY Daily News]

Felix Salmon points out that Herbert Muschamp's vitriol for the Libeskind plan was noticeably absent in December. From Muschamp's December 19 article: "If you are looking for the marvelous, here's where you will find it. Daniel Libeskind's project attains a perfect balance between aggression and desire... Mr. Libeskind has fashioned a new set of crystals, brilliantly faceted skyscrapers, forms that recreate the aspiration many architects felt when plate glass was new."
Muschamp on Libeskind [MemeFirst]