Louis I. Kahn: Building Art and Building Science

by Louis I. Kahn, Thomas Leslie

Philadelphia architect Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974) was one of the most influential American architects of the twentieth century. His work, widely recognized as a link between modern and classical traditions, is distinguished by its simple yet monumental design. In this book, Thomas Leslie shows that Kahn was also an extraordinarily gifted technologist and that his careful presentation of engineering principles set the stage for the high-tech movement in Europe and America. The examination of four major buildingsthe Yale Art Gallery, the Richards Medical Laboratories, the Salk Institute, and the Kimbell Art Museumand several smaller projects by Kahn reveals this hidden theme: an expressive integration of construction, structure, and services into buildings that dramatically highlight the processes involved in their making and function. Previously unpublished drawings, construction photographs, and sketches complement new diagrams that illustrate the profound technical poetry within Kahn's buildings. Because of its new approach to Kahn's work, this book will be a vital resource for architects and designers, both as a comprehensive analysis of these buildings and as a new interpretation of their constructed meaning. Students and educators will also benefit from the book's focus on the role of basic building science in the design and construction of four major monuments of late twentieth-century architecture. 100 black-and-white illustrations.

Genres: Architecture

274 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Louis Isadore Kahn, born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky, was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier 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. Influenced by ancient ruins, Kahn's style tends to the monumental and monolithic; his heavy buildings do not hide their weight, their materials, or the way they are assembled. Louis Kahn's works are considered as monumental beyond modernism.