Louis Kahn

Louis Kahn

louis kahn was an American architect who was based in Pennsylvania.  He was born in 1901 and died in 1971.

In 1935 Kahn found his own style in design.  In previous years he worked with several different firms in Philadelphia however he never really found his own style until he opened his own private practice.  Not only was he an architect, he was also a critic and a professor at the Yale School Of Architecture up until 1957.

From 1957 till his death he was also an architecture professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Although Kahn was a Modernist, he presented a twist in his style.  He produced very heavy looking buildings and never tried to hide it.  He never tried to hide the materials he used or the way they were assembled.  Kahn was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

















Louis Kahn was know for his ability to fuse the international style with his own personal touch.  One of his most famous works which is still very famous today is the 'Jatiyo Sansad Bahban' in Bangladesh.  The building accommodate all Bangladesh's seven parliaments.

  Another famous work of his is the Yale University Art Gallery in Connecticut.  This project was built between 1951 and 1953.  To him, Modernism as a style lacked the monumental and spiritual qualities that older styles had.  In this way he wanted to transform modernity.  Historians believe that this was Kahn's way of changing modernity into a monumental style after the second world war.

With his designs Kahn sealed to create an emotional impact on those who viewed his architecture.  He did this by creating a sense of openness, space and light in his buildings.

Louis Kahn usually liked to use heavily textured brick in his designs which would then create a contrast with his sleek and smooth surfaces.  These surfaces included glass windows which were lined by steel.

“Kahn’s accomplishment was not the formal variation of elements as ends in themselves, but his constant ability to extract from this void means to express his belief in the institutions he was working for.”- Jeffry Kieffer, New York Architect.