KAHN, Louis

(1901-1974)

   Louis Kahn is best known for infusing a subtle poetic grace to modern architecture. Using mainly concrete, he provided a gentle rhythm to his designs, and that practice made him a famous architect of museums, where the gallery space itself came to be viewed as a work of art. Born in Estonia, Kahn settled in Philadelphia and taught at the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University, training some of the most important architects of the following generation, including Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, and Tadao Ando. His first public commission of importance was the Yale University Art Gallery, built in New Haven, Connecticut, in the 1950s, and his most famous building is the Kimbell Art Museum, constructed in Fort Worth, Texas, from 1967 to 1972. This small museum features a parallel row of barrel vaults that enclose the main gallery space and provide a gentle, undulating rhythm to the exterior. Using post-tensioned reinforced concrete, Kahn makes the otherwise heavy material appear weightless. Inside the building, rectangular and square gallery spaces reveal an irregular floor plan that continues the idea of spatial rhythmic variety. This type of museum interior requires an active rather than passive participation by the visitor, who moves from small to large exhibition spaces that flow through the building. Known as an architectural philosopher, Louis Kahn infused his modern buildings with a subtle and enduring elegance.

   See also DECONSTRUCTIVISM; HIGH-TECH ARCHITECTURE; POST-MODERN ARCHITECTURE.