Louis Kahn

The American architect Louis Kahn (1901-1974) is regarded as one of the great master builders of the twentieth century. With complex spatial compositions, an elemental formal vocabulary and a choreographic mastery of light, Kahn created buildings of archaic beauty and powerful universal symbolism. Numbering among his most important works are the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California (1959-65), the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas (1966-72), the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad (1962-74) and the National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh (1962-83). As the first comprehensive publication on this architect in twenty years, the book „Louis Kahn – The Power of Architecture“ presents all of his important projects. In scholarly essays by prominent experts on Kahn, the inspirational sources, contextual background and influences of his work are discussed, reflecting the current status of research on this subject. Among the authors are such renowned art and architectural historians as Stanislaus von Moos, William J. R. Curtis, Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen and Neil Levine. The topics include Kahn’s pioneering role in concrete construction, the visionary urban plans for his home city of Philadelphia, his years at Yale University, the exchange of ideas with Josef Albers, and his importance for modern architecture in Southeast Asia. An expansive illustrated biography provides many new facts and insights about the life and work of Louis Kahn. In interviews, leading architects such as Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Peter Zumthor and Sou Fujimoto emphasize Kahn’s significance in today’s architectural discourse. An extensive catalogue of works features original drawings and architectural models from the Kahn archive, many of which are presented with high-quality images for the first time. The compendium is further augmented by a portfolio of Kahn’s travel drawings as well as photographs by Thomas Florschuetz, which offer completely new views of the Salk Institute and the Indian Institute of Management.