Architect  

Louis I. Kahn

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Works Erdman Hall Dormitories, at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, 1960 to 1965.
Esherick House, at Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, 1959 to 1961.
Phillips Exeter Library, at Exeter, New Hampshire, 1967 to 1972.  * 3D Model *
First Unitarian Church, at Rochester, New York, 1959 to 1967.
Institute of Public Administration, at Ahmedabad, India, 1963.
Kimbell Museum, at Fort Worth, Texas, 1967 to 1972.
National Assembly in Dacca, at Dacca, Bangladesh, 1962 to 1974.
Norman Fisher House, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1960.  * 3D Model *
Richards Medical Center, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1957 to 1961.
Salk Institute, at La Jolla, California, 1959 to 1966.
Trenton Bath House, at Trenton, New Jersey, 1954 to 1959.  * 3D Model *
University Art Center, at New Haven, Connecticut, 1951 to 1954.
Yale Center for British Art, at New Haven, Connecticut, 1969 to 1974.  * 3D Model *

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Biography

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Louis I. Kahn

(b. Saarama (Saaremaa), Estonia, February 20, 1901; d. New York, N.Y. 1974)

Louis Kahn was born in Saarama (Saaremaa), Estonia in 1901. His family emigrated to the U.S. in 1905. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a thorough grounding the the Beaux Art school of architecture. During the 1920s and 1930s he worked as a draughtsman and, later, as a head designer for several Philadelphia-based firms.

In 1925-26 Kahn acted as the Chief of Design for the Sesquincettennial Exhibition. During the Depression, he was active in the design of public assisted housing. Beginning in 1935 Kahn worked with a series of partners, but from 1948 until his death in 1974, Kahn worked alone. From 1947 to 1957 he was Design Critic and Professor of Architecture at Yale University, after which he was Dean at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kahn's architecture is notable for its simple, platonic forms and compositions. Through the use of brick and poured-in place concrete masonry, he developed a contemporary and monumental architecture that maintained a sympathy for the site. While rooted in the International Style, Kahn's architecture was an amalgam of his Beaux Arts education and a personal aesthetic impulse to develop his own architectural forms.

Considered one of the foremost architects of the late twentieth century, Kahn received the AIA Gold Medal in 1971 and the RIBA Gold Medal in 1972. He was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1971.

References

Dennis Sharp. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. ISBN 0-8230-2539-X. NA40.I45. p86.

Resources Sources on Louis I. Kahn

"Postcard from Trenton", by Michael J. Crosbie, ArchitectureWeek No. 486, 2010.0811, pC1.1.

"Polshek's Kahn Yale Gallery Restoration", by Michael J. Crosbie, ArchitectureWeek No. 338, 2007.0613, pB1.1.

"Postcard from New Haven", by Michael J. Crosbie, ArchitectureWeek No. 312, 2006.1115, pC1.1.

"Yale Center for British Art", by ArchitectureWeek, ArchitectureWeek No. 230, 2005.0302, pC1.1.

"In Search of Louis Kahn" (a review of the film "My Architect), by B.J. Novitski, ArchitectureWeek No. 175, 2003.1217, pC1.1.

"Kahn's Yale University Art Gallery", by Jeffry Kieffer, ArchitectureWeek No. 105, 2002.0710, pC1.1.

Romaldo Giurgola and Jaimini Mehta. Louis I. Kahn. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1976. ISBN 0-89158-502-8. LC 75-19210. NA737.K32G58 1975. p9-10, 62.

Nathaniel Kahn, director. My Architect. DVD Release Date February 15, 2005. Also available in VHS. ASIN B0006Q93EM. — Available at Amazon.com

Jeffry Kieffer. Readings from the Architecture of Louis I. Kahn. Xlibris Corp., December 2001. ISBN 1401009964. — Available at Amazon.com

Heinz Ronner, Sharad Jhaveri. Louis I. Kahn. Birkhauser Verlag, August 1996. ISBN 3-7643-1347-1. — The definitive complete works of Louis Kahn, in one large Kahn-style volume. Available at Amazon.com

Joseph Rykwert. Louis Kahn. Harry N. Abrams, October 2001. ISBN 0-8109-4226-7. — Available at Amazon.com

Vincent Scully, Jr. Louis I. Kahn. New York: George Braziller, 1962. LC 62-16265. NA737.K32S38. p113-114.

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Web Resources Links on Louis I. Kahn

Louis Kahn Biographyat Philadelphia Buildings

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