Louis I. Kahn, 1901 - 1973

A Designer Admired by His Fellow Architects

Carter Wiseman in his admirable book Shaping a Nation (W.W. Norton & Co., 1998) tells us that in 1950 Kahn won a scholarship to the American Academy in Rome which allowed him to study not only Roman antiquity but ancient ruins and monuments in Greece, Palestine, and Egypt. From another source, I found out that this three-month period gave his career a fundamental direction. Indeed, much of his work has a solidity and monumentalism – without being overbearing or frightening. Born in Estonia in 1901, he was 49 years old when he found his professional and artistic approach. He lived for only 23 years more - a short time when one considers that some of his work, such as the capitol in Dacca, Bangladesh, took years to finish.

He certainly was neither a Modernist nor one who clung to outdated decorative devices. The influence of the ancient buildings and ruins did not lead to imitation but was “spiritual” (for lack of a better word). He was a unique artist and not prolific, but I believe some of his work will be admired a century from now. Wiseman says:

“The one leading architect who seemed to have no need to do open battle with his predecessors was Louis I. Kahn (1901 - 1974) who produced… a magisterial body of work that fundamentally redirected the way architectural questions were posed and answered… .He had a sublime sensitivity to light, and he had an unashamed reverence for architectural history, from which he drew enough substance to reinvigorate and steady an art that had, in the aftermath of Modernism, all but lost its way.”

Now to specifics which can be found in abundance – perhaps in super abundance in Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture (1991) by Brownlee and De Long, (Rizzoli, New York, 446 pp.).The middle part of the book has more than a hundred pages of colour photographs of the highest quality. Whenever possible, the buildings are shown in their physical surroundings and from different angles. Details are not neglected since Kahn had a way with ceilings and the use of materials which appeal to all those who take the time to look seriously. He designed a number of stand-alone houses for private clients which are both attractive and have original components. But even as a group, they would not have made him famous. His genius was evident, however, in designs for public or academic buildings.

One of these projects was the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas (1966-72). In the film My Architect*, the museum which was under construction was shown from the air. It looked like a collection of parallel cow barns. But real barns would have had flat roofs. These structures were “barrel vaults” – a design used in Western architecture as much as a thousand years ago. While the galleries were long, they also were intimate, had exquisite lighting and were connected with each other at various points. A long line of young trees lines one side of the museum and on the opposite side is a reflecting pool with water cascading along its entire length. The pool is bordered by a walkway with lawns beyond that. There are eleven double-sized plates covering Kimbell in the Rizzoli book. The total impression is one of originality and sensitivity but by no means the work of a wild and crazy designer.

Another work, minor in size and scope, is Erdman Hall, a student residence of Bryn Mawr College (1960-65). It is a predominantly linear three-storey structure which winds its way like a friendly and beautiful light blue snake, since the units of dormitory clusters are arranged at somewhat of an angle to each other. Many of the interior common spaces have ceilings of a waffle design and the stairways and the living room have been designed to be spaces of individual character. Just seeing the photos makes one wish to take off for the Philadelphia Main Line.

The only Kahn building I have seen personally is the First Unitarian Church and School in Rochester, New York (1959-1969). Unfortunately, it struck me as very severe as to both the exterior and its sanctuary. And now as I look at the fortress-like exterior and the cold sanctuary in print, it still does not appeal to me even though I know that a great architect designed it. There are several other works shown in the plates and three master works which alone would have made Kahn’s reputation. These are:

1. The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla California. (1959-1965).
Jonas Salk was the first scientist to produce a vaccine against polio and decided to spend a good deal of the money he earned from it to further scientific research. His institute was planned to allow scientists to work without distractions as well as providing them with the opportunity to get together. The terrain for the Institute had the Pacific Ocean at one end and a private park at the other. In between, Kahn placed a series of parallel study towers facing each other and leading to the ocean or to the park, depending on where one stood. In the middle, the plaza was of highly polished concrete, almost marble like in appearance, with low benches in front of the towers and a very narrow stream in the middle. The whole represented an echo (but not an imitation) of the buildings on two sides of a great lawn designed by Thomas Jefferson for the University of Virginia at Charlottesville (1826).

2. The Indian School of Management, Ahmedabad, India (1962-1974)
This School was patterned on business schools in the United States where typically a library, classrooms, meeting rooms and offices would be required. However, the terrain made available for the Indian Business School was in the middle of nowhere and required not only the above-mentioned facilities, but also accommodation for both single and married students, for the faculty, and for servants. And all these people had to be fed and furnished with sanitary facilities and some recreational activities as well. The architectural problem was how to create a village half across the world. Fortunately, the key persons all spoke English, otherwise the political problems would have been insurmountable since this was very much a government initiative. Kahn during much of his life was a teacher of architecture, even if often on a part-time basis. Many of his pronouncements were and still are puzzling. And yet, when Balkrishna Doshi, his close collaborator and an architect who had worked with Le Corbusier in Europe was recently interviewed in India for My Architect, he said that Kahn was able to immerse himself in the situation in Ahmedabad to such an extent that “we thought he was one of us.” Since Kahn’s assignment was to design a complex, the various structures show considerable differences. However, almost all the outside surfaces are red brick and many of the walls have large circles or semi-circles punched through them. In smaller buildings these openings tend to be rectangular. Sometimes this stylistic device makes the buildings look as if they’ve been bombed. However, the walls are not intended to hide anything but to create corridors of shade and moving air. The offices, classrooms et cetera are located beyond the corridors.
Looking at the photos of the finished project including its modest landscaping, one gets the impression of a true unity of design, accommodating massive strength in some places and much more delicate groupings in others.

3. The third masterpiece was the creation of a Capitol for the Nation of Bangladesh in Dacca, Bangladesh (1962-83).
While the Indian School of Management was completed in the year of Kahn’s death, the Capitol was only finished ten years later. Yet most of the details and the general design are unmistakably Kahn’s. Again an interview with the current manager of the complex used in My Architect gives an important clue or an understanding of what was achieved. We were told that Kahn’s vision – with its reflecting pools and obvious grandeur – was an enormous compliment to the people of Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world. It was a monument to and a tool for democracy for a country which had just recently come into being, when the division of Pakistan, straddling the northern part of India, came to an end. When Nathaniel Kahn, Director of the documentary, was asked how long he intended to stay at the Capitol with his crew and replied “five days,” the executive in charge was obviously disappointed.

The assignment here was quite different from that of the Business School. It was not necessary to build a village. Nevertheless, provisions for many functions had to be made and thousands of persons accommodated at least during business hours. While there are some “hostels,” Kahn built a single, very large structure which has a body of water on one side with large plazas on the others. Some of the elements of the structure are round towers of approximately equal height with the rest of the buildings. Again there are protective walls with openings to shield activities inside from the sun and to produce airflow. Unlike those of the Business School, the openings are decorative, with many triangles alternating with circles and semi-circles. The hall of the National Assembly is round with an elevated speaker’s chair in front of which is a box for five officials. The desks of the members are a warm red brown. Above all this, a lighting system connects individual lamp clusters with each other in a delicate net. As