Kahn was an American architect and teacher. He defined space by means of masonry masses and a lucid structure. For him light was the instrument of our perception, but the very source of matter itself.
Kahn was an American architect and teacher. He defined space by means of masonry masses and a lucid structure. For him light was the instrument of our perception, but the very source of matter itself.
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Kahn was an American architect and teacher. He defined space by means of masonry masses and a lucid structure. For him light was the instrument of our perception, but the very source of matter itself.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
mBorn February 20, 1901, on the Isle of Osel, Estonia
mHe was taken to the United States as a child. mHe got a degree in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania in 1924 mHe spent the first 20 years of his practice mostly in association with other architects, working on a great variety of projects, many involving new housing. mHe passed away on march 17, 1974. mHe defined space by means of masonry masses and a lucid structure laid out in geometric, formal schemes and axial layouts with a strong processional character of space and images. mHe believed that the function of the building was its intended use or the "human institution" the building was to serve. mThese "human institutions" stemmed from the inspiration to live which, according to Kahn, is threefold; the inspiration to learn, the inspiration to meet, and the inspiration for well-being. mHe constantly asked the question "What does the building want to be?³ thus his creation were an answering architectural form. Buildings were not inert configurations of form and space but living organic entities. mHe believed in beginnings. "I think of school as an environment of spaces where is good to learn. Schools began with a man under a tree, who did not know he was a teacher, discussing his realization with a few who did not know they were students . . . the existence-will of school was there even before the circumstances of a man under a tree. That is why is good for the mind to go back to the beginning, because the beginning of any established activity is its most wonderful moment." m to him function had to accommodate itself to the form, but only in so far as the form itself had been invented from a profound understanding of the overall task in the first place. mBeauty was not within his immediate concerns. mTrue expression and appropriateness to use were his primary concerns. mFor Kahn it was natural light that brought architecture to life; the artificial light had an unvarying "dead" quality in contrast to the ever-changing daylight. mLight, for him, was not only an instrument of our perception of things, but the very source of matter itself. mHe was especially attracted to the cyclic nature of light and attributed great psychological and metaphysical significance to its daily and seasonal fluctuations. mKahn saw architectural elements, such as the column, arch, dome, and vault, in their capacity of molding light and shadow. mTo him spaces were equally important. mHe defined his work as ³the thoughtful making of spaces´ and bore this out by making his interiors generally more striking than his exteriors. mHis buildings were divided into two main divisions ± The Served Spaces and The Servant Spaces. mLocation: New Heaven, Connecticut mDate: 1969 to 1974 mBuilding Type: art museum with mixed use retail m Construction System: concrete mClimate: temperate mMain feature Expressed frame and infillO mThe building has a discreet, grey, monotone exterior of steel and reflective glass mIts clearly read concrete frame confer a certain noble, armored mien appropriate to its purpose. mInside the building the visitor experiences the same clarity and organization seen on the exterior. mYale Center for British Art is based on a repetitive 20-foot-square grid, was formally conceived as a series of highly structured 'roomlike' spaces. mThe whole ambiance of the building is rich, seductive, and well-scaled. mThe exposed concrete structure with oak paneled inserts gives a warmer, more sedate feeling mv Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania m±1960 to 1965 m
college dormitories m '
concrete frame, CMU infill, slate cladding m' temperate m' suburban campus m Intersecting diamond plans with services at core and rooms at periphery. mThe building sits at the end of a suburban campus of a college for girls. mThe dormitory is conceived as a large house for approximately 150 girls. mThe plan is structured by three halls defined by large hoods, which rise above the roof to bring in natural light. mThe 'walls' of these halls contain the 'servant' spaces. mThe individual rooms for the students make up the periphery of each of the three squares. mEach central space is formed by four bath units directly related to the served bedrooms. The rectangular areas defined by the bath units serve as stairwells, balconies, and passageways. These areas are lit by skylights." mConnections are achieved at the corners. mConstruction consists of reinforced concrete frame with cinder block walls covered with slate on the exterior and plaster inside. mv Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania m±1959 to 1961 m
house m'
wood frame, dark stucco, large windows m' temperate m' suburban mKahn built relatively few houses. In each there seems to be a larger-scale building trying to escape from the confines of the client's budget. mIn the Esherick House, the inherent monumentality of the plan is diminished by the fact that the major living spaces are surrounded by very thick walls. mIn the double-height living room, the fireplace wall is literally deep. mThe opposite wall also has a fireplace used in the bathroom, but the wall is thicker containing a zone of servant spaces, kitchen, bathrooms, closets which are not part of the axial symmetry of the two major living spaces. mThe two window walls are also thick but these frame walls have niches between the casements. mThe most intricate planning occurs on the first floor where the sliding doors between the gallery and bedroom, and then between bedroom and bathroom, suggest a flow of space from void to room to altar. mv Exeter, New Hampshire m±1967 to 1972 m
school library m '
reinforced concrete m' temperate m' school campus m organized around powerful central space. mElemental in its contemporary directness and built also with the sense and durability of the great monuments of history is the Library at Philips Exeter Academy. mIn the spirit of the grand, classical tradition of the focal organizing space, the reading room is a central hall encircled by balconies containing the stacks and study alcoves. mIt is a space diagonally overlooked through giant circular openings in the interior screen walls that define the central area. mIn keeping with the campus tradition, the exterior of the building is a repetition of brick piers, wider as they approach the ground where the book loads are greater, cut back at all four corners to subtly articulate the building's exterior square form. mThe perimeter study carrels are illuminated from windows above the reader's eye level; smaller windows at eye level afford views to the campus or conversely can be closed by a sliding wooden shutter for privacy and concentration. mv Fort Worth, texas m±1967 to 1972 m
art museum m '
reinforced concrete m' temperate m' urban park setting m vaulted ceilings with integrated daylighting mThe Kimbell Art Museum by Louis Kahn is also a disciplined, coherent, and visually clear statement, but here the aesthetics derive from the more classically oriented sensibility of its architect. mIt has an austere yet rich simplicity that comes from the repetition of a vaultlike form, given a dull sheen from its lead- covered exterior, and a beautifully articulated concrete structural frame with infill paneled walls of travertine. mIts interior form, bathed in a diffused natural light that enters the space via continuous interior suspended screen and reflected downward off the curve of the vault. mv Philadelphia, Pennsylvania m±1957 to 1961 m
laboratories, offices m '
precast concrete with trusses, brick m' temperate m' urban campus m University of Pennsylvania. separation of service and primary spaces. mThe Medical Research Building at the University of Pennsylvania is conceived in recognition of the realization that science laboratories are studios mThere are three great stacks of studios and attach to them tall service towers which would include animal quarters, mains to carry water, gas and vacuum lines, as well as vertical ducts to breathe mThis design, an outcome of the consideration of the unique use of its spaces and how they are served characterizes what it is for." mv Ahmedabad, India m±1963 m
school of government m '
brick masonry and concrete m' desert m' urban m Heavy layered walls modulate sun and capture ventilating breezes. mThe organization of the complex, as well as its architecture, reflects the conceptual organization of learning which is focused on three inevitable components: the school, the students, and the teachers. mThe architect chooses and arranges to express in spaces environment and in relationships man's institutions. mv La Jolla, California m±1959 to 1966 m
research laboratories and offices m '
reinforced concrete m' mild m' seaside m stark but elegantly detailed, abstracted modern shapes combined with a formal symmetry mIn the laboratories the vertical ducts of the Richards Building have been turned on their sides, housed in the hollows of spanning box girders and vented from huge hoods at the flanks of the building. mThe pre-cast units of structure have thus continued to become larger as the crane can lift them. mIn this building the two spaces- the served space and the servant space form out to be integrated as a single unit, first time to appear in Kahn¶s design