On 27 August, at the invitation of mayor Tomasz Sadzyński, Daniel Libeskind came to Łódź. ‘We will make Łódź a beautiful and developing city which will become a bridge between cultures,’ the architect promised.

Libeskind arrived from his current home in New York together with his wife Nina and his associate Brian Melcher. The architect then spent the whole day examining the grounds for the future New Centre of Łódź and talking with mayor of Łódź, Tomasz Sadzyński, and marshal of the Łódź voivodeship, Włodzimierz Fisiak. The architect often emphasizes his attachment to Łódź and his faith in the success of the mission to create a new image of the city. ‘For me, Łódź is not yet another place that I visit, but my home. I was born here and I lived here for eleven years. My father was also born here. It is one of the most iconic and memorable cities in Europe and the world. It certainly deserves to once again become the centre of Europe. Of course, in the 21st century we cannot repeat this process basing on the textile industry, in which my father worked. Now, we can make Łódź a beautiful and developing city which will become a bridge between cultures. This is why I am glad that I can take part in this process not only as an architect or urban planner, but also, most importantly, as a person who loves and cares about this city and who feels this place has potential to be something internationally important,’ said Libeskind on a press conference.
At the same time, the architect noted that the underground Łódź Fabryczna railway station and the tunnel for high-speed railway have to be built for the New Centre of Łódź to succeed. ‘Let us treat the railway as a seed from which the new Łódź will bloom,’ Daniel Libeskind said.

Currently, Libeskind is employed at a huge six-billion-Euro project to transform a part of Milan. The scale of this operation is comparable to that of the New Centre of Łódź. Włodzimierz Fisiak said ‘We must hire people who have experience in dealing with such huge projects. It is also important to have experience in obtaining funds from other sources. City authorities in Milan provided the grounds, but the rest was done thanks to private investors. It is unlikely that Łódź will be able to finance the New Centre of Łódź from public finances only.’

Tomasz Sadzyński also commented, ‘We are yet to decide how the New Centre of Łódź will be operated and administered. Soon, a special team will be appointed at the City of Łódź Office to find a solution for this. We will surely want a world-famous person, such as Daniel Libeskind, to be in charge of the architectural aspect of this project.’

There is a high probability that Libeskind will create the architectural concept of the City Gate, Special Zone of Culture and Kobro Square. These buildings will emphasize the extra-national character of European culture as well as the place of Łódź in Europe. They may prove to be the key to success in Łódź efforts to receive the title of the European Capital of Culture. ‘A vision of buildings came to me as soon as I saw this area. It has enormous potential, but we need to wisely join it with the rest of the city,’ Libeskind said.