Ambiguous functional requirements, a building to house architectural studios as well as a portion of the University's art collection led Kahn to the creation of a highly flexible space. Pushing technology, Kahn implemented a tetrahedral waffle-slab that formed both the floor of one room and the ceiling of another. Adequate space for building services, including an extensive air-conditioning system, provided a functional basis for this sweeping spatial gesture. The resulting space, enclosing a circulation core, remained free from strict wall definition while retaining elegance through exhaustive material detailing.

— Darlene Levy
References
Patricia Cummings Loud. The Art Museums of Louis I. Kahn. p79-80
Romaldo Giurgola and Jaimini Mehta. Louis I. Kahn. p62.

"Thus the commission brought about Kahn's discovery of structure, materials, and, perhaps most important, the power of the forms he was capable of creating. The Yale Art Gallery served to catalyze many of his basic ideas and beliefs about architecture, both in words and in work."

— Patricia Cummings Loud. The Art Museums of Louis I. Kahn. p92.

Details

American Institute of Architects 25 Year Award, 1979