• Louis Isadore Kahn was born in 1901 on the Baltic island of Osel,Estonia.

• His given name at birth was Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky but was changedupon arrival in the US.

• Kahn attended public schools and supplementedhis education with art classes at the local industrial Art school

Early life

• Completed his bachelor’s degree fromPennsylvania University in 1924.

•After college, worked as a senior draftsman in the officeof Philadelphia City Architect John Molitor.

•To find his inspiration, he traveledthrough Europe visiting castlesand medieval strongholds in 1928,only 4 years after graduating.

•He finally started his ownfirm in 1935.

Elements of Designre-examination of structure

form Space light

•His earlier work abstained from the internationalstyle modernism. Inspired from greek,roman,egyptian.•“Louis Kahn described his quest formeaningful form as a search for"beginnings,“ a spiritual resourcefrom which modern man coulddraw inspiration”.

Design philosophyLouis Kahn is credited in re-defining modern architecture in more than one ways. Forexample:

•Kahn was known to appreciate the appearance and feel of different materials that he used in his work. He used brick and concrete extensively .

•Kahn realised the importance of sunlight and was highly impressed by its usage in Egyptians and Greek works.

•Use extensive geometric shapes and hence we find many of his buildings taking shape of squares, circles or triangles.

Louis Kahn's vision on how an architect can make difference to his design can be seen from the master's own words :

"A building is like a human, an architect has the opportunity of creating life. The way the knuckles and joints come together make each hand interesting and beautiful. In a building these details should not be put in a mitten and hidden. Space is architectural when the evidence of how it is made is seen and comprehended."

•Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut,(1951–1953),

•The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, (1959–1965),

•Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban (National Assembly Building) in Dhaka, Bangladesh (1962–1974)

•Indian Institute of Management ,in Ahmedabad, India (1962).

YALE ART GALLERY (1951-1953)•The Yale University Art Gallery is in New Haven, connecticut.

•The renowned modernist building that is adjacent to the two neo-Gothic structures.

•The Yale University Art Gallery and Design Center was Kahn’s first significant commission and is widely considered his first masterpiece.

•Constructed of masonry, concrete, glass, and steel, and presenting a windowless wall along its most public facade, the Kahn building was the first modernist structure at Yale.

•Kahn’s design has been celebrated not only for its beauty, geometry, and light, but also for its structural and engineering innovations, particularly the tetrahedral ceiling and cylindrical main staircase.

•The Yale Art Centre served to catalyze many of his basic ideas and beliefs about architecture

•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 60acre campus for the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India.

•In 1961, a visionary group of industrialists collaborated with the Harvard BusinessSchool to create a new school focused on the advancement of specific professions to advance India’s industry.

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AHEMDABAD

-1963

•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.

•He incorporated local materials (brick and concrete) and large geometrical façade extractions as homage to Indian vernacular architecture.

•The large façade 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 for the students andfaculty to come together

Auditorium.

Classroom.

SALK INSTITUTE(1959-1965)

•This particular building emphasizes the principle, "Keep it simple and strong".

•Through this building, Kahn has achieved astonishing use of space, may it be the space available for Laboratories where research is conducted, or may it be the office space where ideas arise.

•This institute shows a wonderful collaboration of mind and action.

•The building's beautiful concrete surfaces ensure precise detailing and magnificent experience.

•Louis Kahn was known for his ability to create epic architectural structures that showcased human scale.

•He predominantly used brick and bare concrete as his building materials and he used highly refined surfaces like travertine marble for reinforcing the textures

•"The central court”, as a typical Kahn-like space of shimmering blue water, a band pointing toward the ocean epitomizing what human Endeavour can accomplish at one scale with geometric clarity and authoritative but modest deliberation, to give to the scale less sweep of the ocean, here the Pacific, a poignant gesture

•According to Kahn, the role of natural light was one of the most significant factors in creating architectural spaces that could be termed as masterpiece. Kahn had described structure as a ‘giver of light’.

•Classic examples this are some of his projects located in hot climates.

•For projects such as U.S. Consulate in Luanda, Angola (1959-1962), meeting houses of the Salk institute, the Indian Institute of Management (Ahmadabad, India,1962-1974), and the National Capital at Dhaka, Kahn had created visually dynamic sunscreens.

•All these projects have great walls taking different kinds of shaped openings, which help in protecting inner spaces from the extreme direct sunlight.

•Louis Kahn’s National Assembly Building of Bangladesh in Dhaka is an extraordinary example of modern architecture being transcribed as a part of Bengali vernacular architecture.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY,DHAKA(1962-1974)

•Kahn had intended to make a building of monumental presence, but after Bangladesh had officially broke from Pakistani rule in December of 1971 the project became much more of a symbol of democracy and pride for the Bengali people.

•The National Assembly building, completed in 1982, stands as one of Kahn’s most prominent works, but also as a symbolic monument to the government of Bangladesh

•There are eight halls that are concentrically aligned around the parliamentary grand chamber, which is not only a metaphor for placing the new democratic government at the heart of the building.

•The National Assembly Building is unique in the sense that it is modernist in principle, but it is a project deeply rooted in its context, the citizens.

•It also is part of Kahn’s design objectives to optimize spatial configurations where the supporting programs (offices, hotels for parliamentary officials, and a restaurant) project out of the center volume.

•The entire complex is fabricated out of poured in place concrete with inlaid white marble, which is not only a modernist statement of power and presence, but is more of a testament to the local materials and values.

•The sheer mass of the monumentally scaled National Assembly and the artificial lake surrounding the building act as a natural insulator and cooling system that also begin to create interesting spatial and lighting conditions.

•The geometric shapes found on the different faces of the façade add a dramatic impact to the overall composition of the building.

•The geometric shapes are abstracted forms found in traditional Bangali culture that are meant to create a marriage of old and new cultural identities, as well as, serve as light wells and a natural environmental control system for the interior.

•Richards Medical Research Laboratories, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (1957–1965),

•First Unitarian Church, Rochester, New York (1959–1969),.

•Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh

•National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Dhaka, Bangladesh (1963)

•Phillips Exeter Academy Library, Exeter, New Hampshire, (1965–1972), awarded the Twenty-five Year Award by the American Institute of Architects in 1997.

•Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, (1967–1972),

•Yale Centre for British Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, (1969–1974).

Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, New York, (1972–1974)

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