Louis I. Kahn was one of the 20th century's greatest American architects, known for combining modernism with the weight and dignity of ancient monuments. He was inspired by Egyptian, Greek, and Roman ruins and their sense of order, magnificence, and strength. Kahn developed his own distinctive style that was modern yet timeless. His works used simple materials like brick and concrete to define spaces through masonry masses and geometric forms. Notable projects include the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India, where he incorporated local materials and patterns to blend modern and traditional Indian architecture, and the National Assembly Building of Bangladesh, where he abstracted regional vernacular and monumental forms into a universal yet place-specific

1. LOUIS I. KAHN

2. LOUIS KAHN (FEBRUARY 20TH
1901 – MARCH 17TH 1974) WAS ONE
OF THE UNITED STATES' GREATEST
20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTS,
KNOWN FOR COMBINING
MODERNISM WITH THE WEIGHT
AND DIGNITY OF ANCIENT
MONUMENTS.

3. BIOGRAPHY
1. Louis Kahn, whose original name was Itze-Leib (Leiser-
Itze) Schmuilowsky (Schmalowski), was born into a poor
Jewish family in Pärnu.
2. Kahn excelled in art from a young age, He was an
unenthusiastic and undistinguished student
at Philadelphia Central High School until he took a
course in architecture in his senior year,which
convinced him to become an architect.
3. He took degree in architecture at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts.There,he studied
under Paul Philippe Cret in a version of the Beaux-Arts
tradition, one that discouraged excessive ornamentation.
4. And in his career he worked under various influenced
architects such as Paul Philippe Cret , John Molitor.

4. INSPIRATION
-Egyptian, Greek and Roman ruins
-The sense of symmetry, order, magnificence
and strength that he felt facing the pyramids,
-The Greek temples and Roman building
heritage made him understand that the
meaning of the architecture was to be found
in its timelessness, in its way of being eternal
monument.
-Beaux-Arts tradition
-Louis Kahn made his own distinctive style
working outside the Modern Movement,
and his architecture are modern yet eternal,
like the Roman ruins that he desperately fell in
love with.

5. PHILOSOPHY
• “Form followsfunction” the slogan associated with
the International Style was reversed by Kahn: the
function follows the form because the form has its
primary role of conveying a sense of balance that
is apart from the activity hosted inside.
• Beyond its functional role, Louis Isadore
Kahn believed architecture must also evoke the
feeling and symbolism of timeless human values.
"The Sun does not realize how wonderful it is until after a room is
made."

6. ""ARCHITECTURE ISTHETHOUGHTFUL
MAKING OF SPACES"
• Louis I. Kahn evolved an original theoretical and
formal language that revitalized
modern architecture.
• Beaux -arts tradition - Neoclassical architectural
style, sculptural decoration along conservative
modern lines.
• Natural Light -Brought architecture to life.
• Modernism
• To design is to plan and to organize , to order , to
relate and to control in short it embraces all means
opposing disorder and accident.
PHILOSOPHY

7. • Monumental, Monolithic and Massive architecture
• Primary geometrical shapes and used simple
and “immortal” materials, such as rustic bricks,
rough concrete,travertine.
• Defined space by means of masonry masses and
a lucid structure laid out in geometric,
formal schemes and axial layouts .
• Integration of structure,a reverencefor materials
and light, a devotion to archetypal geometry
CHARACTERISTICS

8. CHARACTERISTICS
• Stairs and aisles are shaped into circles
and triangles,as well as the geometrical
coffered ceilings where sometimes the
artificial lighting system is set or, more often,
the natural light passes through,giving back
interior spaces with an extraordinary
intimate privacy,nearly sacred.
• That in the purity of shapes and materials
researches the solemnity and the essence of
architecture,

9. IIM AHMEDABAD
While Louis Kahn was designing the National
Assembly Building in Bangladesh in 1962, he
was approached by an admiring Indian
architect,Balkrishna Doshi, to design the 66
acre campus for the Indian Institute of
Management in Ahmedabad, India.
AHMEDABAD, INDIA
Architects:Louis Kahn, BV Doshi
Year:1974

10. • He implemented the same techniques in the Indian Institute of
Management such that he incorporated local materials (brick
and concrete) and large geometrical façade extractions as
homage to Indian vernacular architecture.
• It was Kahn’s method of blending modern architecture and
Indian tradition into an architecture that could only be applied
for the Indian Institute of Management.
• The large facade omissions are abstracted patterns found
within the Indian culture that were positioned to act as light
wells and a natural cooling system protecting the interior from
India’s harsh desert climate. Even though the porous,
geometric façade acts as filters for sunlight and ventilation, the
porosity allowed for the creation of new spaces of gathering

11. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
BUILDING OF BANGLADESH
• Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban is the
National Assembly Building of
Bangladesh, located in the capital
Dhaka. Is one of the largest
legislative complexes in the world. It
houses all parliamentary activities of
Bangladesh.

12. • Louis Kahn’s National Assembly Building of
Bangladesh in Dhaka is an extraordinary example of
modern architecture being transcribed as a part of
Bangali vernacular architecture.
• The architect drew upon and assimilated both the
vernacular and monumental archetypes of the
region, and abstracted and transformed,to a degree
of utter purity, lasting architectural ideas from many
eras and civilisations.
• The core of the composition is the assembly
chamber,a 300-seat, 30-meters high, domed
amphitheatre and the library.These spaces alternate
among eight "light and air courts" and a restaurant,
as well as entrances to the garden and mosque.

13. • Built of rough-shuttered,poured-in-place concrete,
the walls are inlaid with bands of white marble.The
jury noted that the architect has produced a building
that "while universal in its sources of forms,
aesthetics, and technologies, could be in no other
place."
• Louis Kahn designed the entire
Jatiyo Sangsad complex,which includes lawns, lake
and residences for the Members of the Parliament.

14. LOUIS KAHN'S WORK INFUSED THE INTERNATIONAL
STYLE WITH A FASTIDIOUS, HIGHLY PERSONAL TASTE,
A POETRY OF LIGHT.

15. THANK YOU!
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