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Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own
atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...
in 1935. While continuing his private practice, he served as a design critic and professor of architecture at Yale School of Architecture from 1947 to 1957. From 1957 until his death, he was a professor of architecture at the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania. Kahn created a style that was monumental and monolithic; his heavy buildings for the most part do not hide their weight, their materials, or the way they are assembled. He was awarded the
AIA Gold Medal The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." It is the In ...
and the
RIBA Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...
. At the time of his death he was considered by some as "America's foremost living architect."


Biography


Early life

Louis Kahn, whose original name was Itze-Leib (Leiser-Itze) Schmuilowsky (Schmalowski), was born into a poor Jewish family, at that time in the Russian Empire, but now in Estonia. His exact birthplace is disputed, but it is widely regarded to be Kuressaare, Saaremaa, although some sources mention
Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...
. He spent his early childhood in Kuressaare on the island of Saaremaa, then part of the Russian Empire's
Livonian Governorate The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...
. At the age of three, he saw coals in the stove and was captivated by the light of the coal. He put the coal in his apron, which caught on fire and burned his face. He carried these scars for the rest of his life. In 1906, his family emigrated to the United States, as they feared that his father would be recalled into the military during the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
. His birth year may have been inaccurately recorded in the process of immigration. According to his son's 2003 documentary film, the family could not afford pencils. They made their own charcoal sticks from burnt twigs so that Louis could earn a little money from drawings.''My Architect: A Son's Journey''
, SBS Hot Docs, January 15, 2008
Later he earned money by playing piano to accompany silent movies in theaters. He became a
naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
of the U.S. on May 15, 1914. His father changed their name to Kahn in 1915.


Education

Kahn excelled in art from a young age, repeatedly winning the annual award for the best watercolor by a Philadelphia high school student. He was an unenthusiastic and undistinguished student at
Philadelphia Central High School Central High School is a public high school in the LoganLogan Redevelopment Area ...
until he took a course in architecture in his senior year, which convinced him to become an architect. He turned down an offer to go to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to study art under a full scholarship, instead working at a variety of jobs to pay his own tuition for a degree in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts. There, he studied under
Paul Philippe Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsyl ...
in a version of the Beaux-Arts tradition, one that discouraged excessive ornamentation.


Career

After completing his
Bachelor of Architecture The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the world. Australia Architectural education in Australia varies depending on the university offering th ...
in 1924, Kahn worked as senior draftsman in the office of the city architect, John Molitor. He worked on the designs for the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition."Louis Isadore Kahn (1901–1974)"
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
In 1928, Kahn made a European tour. He was interested particularly in the medieval walled city of
Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie. It is the prefectures in F ...
, France, and the castles of Scotland, rather than any of the strongholds of
classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...
or modernism. After returning to the United States in 1929, Kahn worked in the offices of
Paul Philippe Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsyl ...
, his former studio critic at the University of Pennsylvania, and then with
Zantzinger, Borie and Medary Zantzinger, Borie and Medary was an American architecture firm that operated from 1905 to 1950 in Philadelphia. It specialized in institutional and civic projects. For most of its existence, the partners were Clarence C. Zantzinger, Charles Lou ...
in Philadelphia. In 1932, Kahn and
Dominique Berninger Dominique Berninger (1898–1949) was a French-born American architect based in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, United States, who practiced nationally in the mid twentieth century but particularly in Pennsylvania. He is best known for his design ...
founded the Architectural Research Group, whose members were interested in the populist social agenda and new
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
of the European
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or 'vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical D ...
s. Among the projects Kahn worked on during this collaboration are schemes for public housing that he had presented to the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Reco ...
, which supported some similar projects during the Great Depression. They remained unbuilt. Among the more important of Kahn's early collaborations was one with George Howe. Kahn worked with Howe in the late 1930s on projects for the Philadelphia Housing Authority and again in 1940, along with German-born architect Oscar Stonorov, for the design of housing developments in other parts of Pennsylvania. A formal architectural office partnership between Kahn and Oscar Stonorov began in February 1942 and ended in March 1947, which produced fifty-four documented projects and buildings. Kahn did not arrive at his distinctive architectural style until he was in his fifties. Initially working in a fairly orthodox version of the International Style, he was strongly influenced by a stay as architect-in-residence at the
American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects ...
during 1950, which marked a turning point in his career. After visiting the ruins of ancient buildings in Italy, Greece, and Egypt, he adopted a back-to-the-basics approach. He developed his own style, as influenced by earlier modern movements, but not limited by their sometimes-dogmatic ideologies. In the 1950s and 1960s, as a consultant architect for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, Kahn developed several plans for the center of Philadelphia that were never executed. In 1961 he received a grant from the
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts is a 501(c)3 non-profit that “fosters the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. The Graham realize ...
to study traffic movement in Philadelphia and to create a proposal for a viaduct system. He described this proposal at a lecture given in 1962 at the International Design Conference in Aspen, Colorado:
In the center of town the streets should become buildings. This should be interplayed with a sense of movement which does not tax local streets for non-local traffic. There should be a system of viaducts which encase an area which can reclaim the local streets for their own use, and it should be made so this viaduct has a ground floor of shops and usable area. A model which I did for the Graham Foundation recently, and which I presented to Mr. Entenza, showed the scheme.
Kahn's teaching career began at Yale University in 1947. He eventually was named as the ''Albert F. Bemis Professor'' of Architecture and Planning at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956. Kahn then returned to Philadelphia to teach at the University of Pennsylvania from 1957 until his death, becoming the ''Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture''. He also was a visiting lecturer at
Princeton University School of Architecture Princeton University School of Architecture is the name of the school of architecture at Princeton University. Founded in 1919, the School is a center for teaching and research in architectural design, history, and theory. The School offers an und ...
from 1961 to 1967.


Awards and honors

Kahn was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1953. He was made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1964. He was awarded the
Frank P. Brown Medal The Frank P. Brown Medal was formerly awarded by the Franklin Institute for excellence in science, engineering, and structures. It was established by the 1938 will of Franklin Pierce Brown, a member of the Master Plumbers Association. The designer ...
in 1964. In 1965 he was elected into the
National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote th ...
as an Associate Academician. He was made a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
in 1968 and awarded the
AIA Gold Medal The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the American Institute of Architects conferred "by the national AIA Board of Directors in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." It is the In ...
, the highest award given by the AIA, in 1971, and the Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in 1972. In 1971, he received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet o ...
.


Death

In 1974, Kahn died of a heart attack in a restroom at
Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...
in Manhattan. He had just returned from a work trip to India. Owing to police miscommunications in both New York City and Philadelphia, his wife was initially not notified.


Personal life

Kahn had three children with three women. With his wife Esther he had a daughter, Sue Ann. With
Anne Tyng Anne Griswold Tyng (July 14, 1920 – December 27, 2011) was an architect and professor. She is best known for having collaborated for 29 years with Louis Kahn at his practice in Philadelphia. She served as a professor at the University of Pennsyl ...
, who began her working collaboration and personal relationship with Kahn in 1945, he also had a daughter, Alexandra. When Tyng became pregnant in 1953, to mitigate the scandal, she went to Rome, for the birth of their daughter. With Harriet Pattison, he had a son,
Nathaniel Kahn Nathaniel Kahn (born November 9, 1962, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American filmmaker. His documentaries '' My Architect'' (2003) – about his father, the architect Louis Kahn – and '' Two Hands'' (2006) were nominated for Academy A ...
. Anne Tyng was an architect and teacher, while Harriet Pattison was a pioneering landscape architect. Kahn's obituary in '' The New York Times'', written by Paul Goldberger, mentions only Esther and his daughter by her as survivors.


Documentary

In 2003 Nathaniel Kahn released a documentary about his father, '' My Architect: A Son's Journey.'' The
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
-nominated film provides views and insights into Kahn's architecture while exploring him personally through his family, friends and colleagues.


Designs

*
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
, New Haven, Connecticut (1951–1953), the first significant commission of Louis Kahn. The ceilings, which are three feet (0.9 meters) thick, consist of a grid of triangular openings that draw the eye upward into dimly-lit, three-sided pyramidal spaces. These exposed spaces provide the means for channeling the heating, cooling, and electrical services throughout the galleries. * Richards Medical Research Laboratories, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1957–1965), a breakthrough in Kahn's career that helped set new directions for modern architecture with its clear expression of served and servant spaces and its evocation of the architecture of the past. * The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California (1959–1965) was to be a campus composed of three main clusters: meeting and conference areas, living quarters, and laboratories. Only the laboratory cluster, consisting of two parallel blocks enclosing a water garden, was built. The two laboratory blocks frame a long view of the Pacific Ocean, accentuated by a thin linear fountain that seems to reach for the horizon. It has been named "arguably the defining work" of Kahn. * First Unitarian Church, Rochester, New York (1959–1969), named as one of the greatest religious structures of the twentieth century by Paul Goldberger, the Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic. Tall, narrow window recesses create an irregular rhythm of shadows on the exterior while four light towers flood the sanctuary walls with indirect, natural light. * Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka,
East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
(now Bangladesh) *
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is the world's number 1 business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The school has been accorded the status of an Institute of National Importance by Ministry of Human Resource ...
, in
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (p ...
, India (1961) * Eleanor Donnelly Erdman Hall,
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...
,
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr, pronounced , from Welsh for big hill, is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township and Haverford Township in Delaware County, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It ...
(1960-1965), designed as a modern Scottish castle. *
Phillips Exeter Academy Library Phillips Exeter Academy Library is a library that serves Phillips Exeter Academy, an independent boarding school located in Exeter, New Hampshire. It is the largest secondary school library in the world, containing 160,000 volumes over nine leve ...
, Exeter, New Hampshire (1965–1972), awarded the
Twenty-five Year Award The Twenty-five Year Award is an architecture prize awarded each year by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to "a building that has set a precedent for the last 25 to 35 years and continues to set standards of excellence for its architect ...
by the American Institute of Architects in 1997. Its dramatic atrium features enormous circular openings into the book stacks. * Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas (1967–1972), features repeated bays of cycloid-shaped barrel vaults with light slits along the apex, which bathe the artwork on display in an ever-changing diffuse light. * Arts United Center,
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
(1973), The only building realized of a ten-building Arts Campus vision, Kahn's only theatre and building in the Midwest * Hurva Synagogue, Jerusalem, Israel, (1968–1974), unbuilt * Yale Center for British Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (1969–1974) * Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, New York (1972–1974), construction completed 2012 *
Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban or National Parliament House, ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন ''Jatiyô Sôngsôd Bhôbôn'') is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. ...
(National Assembly Building) in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was Kahn's last project, developed 1962 to 1974. Kahn got the design contract with the help of
Muzharul Islam Muzharul Islam (25 December 1923 – 15 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi architect, urban planner, educator and activist. He is considered as the Grand Master of regional modernism in South Asia. Islam is the pioneer of modern architecture in Ban ...
, one of his students at Yale University, who worked with him on the project. The Bangladeshi Parliament building is the centerpiece of the national capital complex designed by Kahn, which includes hostels, dining halls, and a hospital. According to Robert McCarter, author of ''Louis I. Kahn'', "it is one of the twentieth century's greatest architectural monuments, and is without question Kahn's magnum opus."


Timeline of works

All dates refer to the year project commenced *1935 – Jersey Homesteads Cooperative Development, Hightstown, New Jersey *1940 – Jesse Oser House, 628 Stetson Road, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania *1944 – Carver Court, Foundry Street, Coatsville, Pennsylvania *1947 – Phillip Q. Roche House, 2101 Harts Lane, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania *1950 - Morton and Lenore Weiss House, 2935 Whitehall Rd, East Norriton, Pennsylvania *1951 –
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
, 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut *1952 – City Tower Project, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (unbuilt) *1954 – Jewish Community Center (including Trenton Bath House), 999 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, New Jersey *1956 – Wharton Esherick Studio, 1520 Horseshoe Trail, Malvern, Pennsylvania (designed with
Wharton Esherick Wharton Esherick (July 15, 1887 – May 6, 1970) was an American sculptor who worked primarily in wood, especially applying the principles of sculpture to common utilitarian objects. Consequently, he is best known for his sculptural furniture a ...
) *1957 – Richards Medical Research Laboratories, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *1957 – Fred E. and Elaine Cox Clever House, 417 Sherry Way,
Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census.< ...
*1959 – Margaret Esherick House, 204 Sunrise Lane, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania *1958 – Tribune Review Publishing Company Building, 622 Cabin Hill Drive, Greensburg, Pennsylvania *1959 – Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California *1959 – First Unitarian Church, 220 South Winton Road, Rochester, New York *1960 – Erdman Hall Dormitories,
Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...
, Morris Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania *1960 – Norman Fisher House, 197 East Mill Road, Hatboro, Pennsylvania *1961 – ''Point Counterpoint'', a converted barge performance venue used by the
American Wind Symphony Orchestra The American Wind Symphony Orchestra (AWSO, also called the American Wind Symphony, or AWS) is an American musical ensemble incorporating many of the wind instruments found in a symphony orchestra. It is dedicated to the performance of contempora ...
*1961 - Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (unbuilt) *1961 –
Indian Institute of Management The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are central government-owned-public business schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of busines ...
, Ahmedabad, India *1962 –
Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban or National Parliament House, ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ ভবন ''Jatiyô Sôngsôd Bhôbôn'') is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. ...
, the National Assembly Building of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh *1963 – President's Estate, Islamabad, Pakistan (unbuilt) *1965 –
Phillips Exeter Academy Library Phillips Exeter Academy Library is a library that serves Phillips Exeter Academy, an independent boarding school located in Exeter, New Hampshire. It is the largest secondary school library in the world, containing 160,000 volumes over nine leve ...
, Front Street, Exeter, New Hampshire *1966 – Kimbell Art Museum, 3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas *1966 – Olivetti-Underwood Factory, Valley Road, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania *1966 -
Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester is a Reform Jewish congregation in Chappaqua, New York. Founded in 1949,Our Histor ...
, Chappaqua, New York *1968 – Hurva Synagogue, Jerusalem, Israel (unbuilt) *1969 – Yale Center for British Art, Yale University, 1080 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut *1971 – Steven Korman House, Sheaff Lane, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania *1973 – Arts United Center (Formerly known as the Fine Arts Foundation Civic Center), Fort Wayne, Indiana *1974 – Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, New York City, completed 2012. *1976 – ''Point Counterpoint II'', an improved concert venue for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, is debuted posthumously *1979 –
Flora Lamson Hewlett Library The Flora Lamson Hewlett Library is the central library of the Graduate Theological Union. Located on the summit of the "Holy Hill" area of Berkeley, California, its collections comprise one of the largest collections of theological works in t ...
of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California


Legacy

Louis Kahn's work infused the International style with a fastidious, highly personal taste.
Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several ...
called him "a philosopher among architects." He was concerned with creating strong formal distinctions between ''served'' spaces and ''servant'' spaces. What he meant by ''servant'' spaces was not spaces for servants, but rather spaces that serve other spaces, such as stairwells, corridors, restrooms, or any other back-of-house function such as storage space or mechanical rooms. His palette of materials tended toward heavily textured brick and bare concrete, the textures often reinforced by juxtaposition to highly refined surfaces such as travertine marble. Kahn argued that brick can be more than the basic building material:
If you think of Brick, you say to Brick, 'What do you want, Brick?' And Brick says to you, 'I like an Arch.' And if you say to Brick, 'Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lintel over you. What do you think of that, Brick?' Brick says, 'I like an Arch.' And it's important, you see, that you honor the material that you use. ... You can only do it if you honor the brick and glorify the brick instead of shortchanging it.
Kahn worked closely with engineers and contractors on his buildings. In addition to the influence Kahn's more well-known work has on contemporary architects (such as
Muzharul Islam Muzharul Islam (25 December 1923 – 15 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi architect, urban planner, educator and activist. He is considered as the Grand Master of regional modernism in South Asia. Islam is the pioneer of modern architecture in Ban ...
, Tadao Ando), some of his work (especially the unbuilt City Tower Project) became very influential among the high-tech architects of the late twentieth century (such as
Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City (2 ...
, who worked in Kahn's office,
Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Pa ...
, and Norman Foster). His prominent apprentices include
Muzharul Islam Muzharul Islam (25 December 1923 – 15 July 2012) was a Bangladeshi architect, urban planner, educator and activist. He is considered as the Grand Master of regional modernism in South Asia. Islam is the pioneer of modern architecture in Ban ...
,
Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie ( he, משה ספדיה; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author, with Israeli, Canadian, and American citizenship. He is known for incorporating principles of socially responsible des ...
, Robert Venturi, Jack Diamond, and Charles Dagit. Many years after his death, Kahn continues to provoke controversy. Before his Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park at the southern tip of Roosevelt Island was built, a ''New York Times'' editorial opined:
There's a magic to the project. That the task is daunting makes it worthy of the man it honors, who guided the nation through the Depression, the New Deal and a world war. As for Mr. Kahn, he died in 1974, as he passed alone through New York City's Penn Station. In his briefcase were renderings of the memorial, his last completed plan.
The editorial describes Kahn's plan as:
... simple and elegant. Drawing inspiration from Roosevelt's defense of the Four Freedoms—of speech and religion, and from want and fear—he designed an open 'room and a garden' at the bottom of the island. Trees on either side form a 'V' defining a green space, and leading to a two-walled stone room at the water's edge that frames the United Nations and the rest of the skyline.
A group spearheaded by William J. vanden Heuvel raised over $50 million in public and private funds between 2005 and 2012 to establish the memorial. Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park officially opened to the public on October 24, 2012.


In popular culture

Kahn was the subject of the 2003 Oscar-nominated documentary film '' My Architect: A Son's Journey'', presented by
Nathaniel Kahn Nathaniel Kahn (born November 9, 1962, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American filmmaker. His documentaries '' My Architect'' (2003) – about his father, the architect Louis Kahn – and '' Two Hands'' (2006) were nominated for Academy A ...
, his son. Kahn's complicated family life inspired the " Undaunted Mettle" episode of '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''. In the 1993 film ''
Indecent Proposal ''Indecent Proposal'' is a 1993 American erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Amy Holden Jones. It is based on the 1988 novel by Jack Engelhard, in which a couple's marriage is disrupted by a stranger's offer of a million do ...
'', character David Murphy (played by Woody Harrelson), referenced Kahn during a lecture to architecture students, attributing the quote "Even a brick wants to be something" to Kahn. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer
Lewis Spratlan M. Lewis Spratlan Jr. (born September 5, 1940) is an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Lewis Spratlan, recipient of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in music and the Charles Ives Opera Award (2016) from the Ame ...
, with collaborators Jenny Kallick and John Downey (Amherst College, class of 2003), composed the chamber opera ''Architect'' as a character study of Kahn. The premiere recording was due to be released in 2012 by Navona Records. In Showtime's '' Billions'' (Season 4, Episode 6), Taylor Mason and Wendy Rhoades meet at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park and discuss Kahn's genius and his relationship with his estranged son.


Gallery

File:Yale University Art Gallery entrance.jpg,
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
, New Haven, Connecticut (1951–1953) File:Triangle-ceiling.jpg, Coffered ceiling in
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
(1951–1953) File:YUAG stairwell.jpg, Stairwell in
Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...
(1951–1953) File:T bath house 3.JPG, Trenton Bath House and Day Camp (1954) File:Wharton Esherick House & Studio, 1520 Horsehoe Trail, Malvern (Chester County, Pennsylvania).jpg, Wharton Esherick Studio, 1520 Horseshoe Trail, Malvern, Pennsylvania (1956). Designed with
Wharton Esherick Wharton Esherick (July 15, 1887 – May 6, 1970) was an American sculptor who worked primarily in wood, especially applying the principles of sculpture to common utilitarian objects. Consequently, he is best known for his sculptural furniture a ...
File:WTP2 Mike Reali 01d.jpg, Richards Medical Research Laboratories, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1957–1965) File:Kahn - Rochester Sanctuary.jpeg, Interior of First Unitarian Church, Rochester, New York (1959) Image:Iima panorama complex.jpg,
Indian Institute of Management The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are central government-owned-public business schools for management offering undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes along with some additional courses in the field of busines ...
, Ahmedabad, India (1961) File:Kimbell Art Museum Fort Worth galleries 1.jpg, Interior of Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas (1966) File:Yale Center for British Art.jpg, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (1969–1974) File:National Assembly of Bangladesh (07).jpg, Parliament of Bangladesh (2014) File:Sangshad Assembly Hall.jpg, National Assembly of Bangladesh assembly hall (2014) File:Arts united center exterior (2889449210).jpg, Arts United Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana


Notes and references


Cited sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *Goldhagen, Sarah Williams, Louis Kahn's Situated Modernism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), ISBN 0300077866. *Kahn, Louis
''Louis Kahn: Essential Texts''
edited by Robert Twombly. London & New York: WW Norton & Company, 2003. * * Mowla, Qazi Azizul 2007 Kahn’s Creation in Dhaka – Re Evaluated, Jahangirnagar Planning Review,(Journal: issn=1728-4198).Vol.5, June 2007, Dhaka, pp. 85–96. * *Choudhury, Bayezid Ismail 2014. PhD dissertation at the University of Sydney ‘The genesis of Jatio Sangsad Bhaban at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka’ * * * Harriet Pattison: ''Our days are like full years : a memoir with letters from Louis Kahn'', New Haven : Yale University Press,
020 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...


External links


Louis I. Kahn – Philadelphia Architects and Buildings ProjectExhibition at the University of Pennsylvania on Louis I. Kahn Interiors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Louis Modernist architects from the United States 1901 births 1974 deaths American ecclesiastical architects Architecture educators Estonian architects Jewish architects Modernist architects Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal Architects from Philadelphia Architecture of Phillips Exeter Academy American people of Estonian-Jewish descent Estonian emigrants to the United States Estonian Jews Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty Yale School of Architecture faculty People from Kuressaare 20th-century American architects Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal Olivetti people Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters