In this class we focus on Louis Kahn, in particular on two of his houses, the Esherick House and the Korman House.

1. ARCH 416
Spring '15
Louis Kahn

2. agenda
Louis I. Kahn
• Esherick House
• Korman House
• Salk Institute
• Phillips Academy Library
• National Assembly, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Richard Meier
• Smith House, 1965-7
• Rachofsky House, 1991-6, Dallas TX
The 1%--where do they live and build these house?

3. Louis I. Kahn [early]
Born Pärnu, Estonia 1901. Given name: Itze-Leib
Schmuilowsky.
His parents soon decided to emigrate. Dad went to
Philadelphia, PA, in 1904; family followed two years later.
Took the last name of Kahn in 1912. Leib and Beila-
Rebecka took the names of Leopold and Bertha, and their
son became Louis Isadore Kahn.
Kahn went to high school in Philadelphia. Graduated from
University of Pennsylvania in 1924.

4. Louis I. Kahn [professional]
Kahn traveled throughout Europe in 1928-29. Found work
at various Philadelphia-based architectural firms.
1935 opened his own practice.
1947 began teaching architecture at Yale .
In 1950-51, Kahn was the architect in residence at the
American Academy in Rome. During this period, he also
was able to visit Greece and Egypt.
1957 Returns to Penn as professor.

5. Kahn, watercolor of the Ponte Vecchio, Florence, c. 1930

6. Louis I. Kahn [buildings]
Yale University Art Gallery, 1953.
Richards Medical Research Building, University of
Pennsylvania (1957-65).
Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California
(1959-65).
Library, Phillips Exeter Academy (1965-72).
The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas (1966-72).

7. Louis I. Kahn
[India/Bangladesh]
Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad (1962-74).
National Assembly in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is one of
Kahn's most admired works. (1962-83).

8. Kahn on history
"An architect is part of
the treasury of
architecture in which
the Parthenon
belongs, the
Pantheon belongs, in
which the great
lyceums during the
Renaissance belong.
All these things
belong to architecture
and make it richer."

9. Louis Kahn, Esherick
House
Chestnut Hill, PA
commissioned by Margaret Esherick
completed 1961.

10. Adjaye on Kahn
“I had the great pleasure of visiting the Esherick House in the
Spring of 2006. As a student I was always mesmerized by its
playful graphic geometry of the windows and the deceptive
simplicity of its plan. It was a real surprise to see the care
and joy of the materials still very much intact and it being
lived in as I’m sure Kahn would have approved. There were
two particularly ecstatic moments for me. Firstly was
ascending the beautifully crafted, Japanese- or Shaker-
esque, staircase with its simple timber balustrade, which
overlooks the living room. The second was opening the
shutter of the window in the library where knowledge and
nature seemed to freeze into one image.”

30. A. N. Richards Medical
Research Building
on the UPenn campus
1957-65

32. Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA

33. Library
Phillips-Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire
1965-1972

35. Indian Institute of Management
Ahmedabad, India

37. National Assembly
Bangladesh

40. Korman House
https://vimeo.com/102418113

42. Richard MEIER
Smith House
1965-7

48. Richard MEIER
Rachofsky House
Dallas, TX
1991-6

59. wealth:international

60. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2013/03/22/forb
es-billionaires-map/

65. wealth:USA

66. Where is architecture?

70. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/local/2013/11/09/was
hington-a-world-apart/
INTERACTIVE MAP VISUALIZING WEALTH CONCENTRATION

71. where is "architecture"?
vernacular architecture is everywhere, and some of it is
the best architecture on the planet
"high-style," name architect architecture is only in a few
places; its location will correspond to the highest
concentrations of wealth and power

72. "Cliff Palace," Mesa Verde, CO, built c. 1250