Louis I Kahn – Robert Mccarter

Description

US architect Louis Kahn (1901-74) was one of the greatest influences on world architecture during the second half of the twentieth century. This monograph focuses on Kahn’s major designs – from the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, the Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, Phillips Exeter Library, Exeter, New Hampshire to the National Capital of Bangladesh and the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad – as well as a number of unfinished projects, in order to understand his work and philosophy.

512 pages, 474 illus. (143 in color, 215 line drawings) , bibliog. , thick 4to. Description: “Born in Estonia in 1901, Louis Isidore Kahn was to become one of the United States’ most important architects of the post-war period, alongside the Modern masters Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. Although renowned for a number of seminal modern works, he came to question many of the precepts of the Modern Movement. In particular, he questioned the ability of the International Style of Modernism to house the social spaces required by the latter half of the century. In 1947 Kahn was appointed Professor at Yale University. He was to continue teaching throughout his architectural career, influencing a younger generation of architects along the way. His teaching enabled him to further develop his own concepts and to inform his ever-evolving definition of design. He was drawn to investigate monumentality in architecture, creating buildings out of heavy, solid materials and forms and incorporating vivid plays of light, in complete contrast to the lightweight glass and steel structures being created elsewhere by his peers. This monumentality was also imbued with his concern for the ritual of human experience. His career, although extending to just over twenty years, was a rich and varied one, where he continually readdressed the issues of light, mass, structure, monumentality, geometry and materials. This monograph follows a predominantly chronological order, identifying major themes and examining key works according to these themes. Each building is illustrated with dynamic photographs that convey the spirit of Kahn’s work, followed by a concept development portfolio that documents inspirations and early plans through to the finished work. An appendix at the back book features a selection of Kahn’s own writings; there is also a comprehensive list of projects by Kahn spanning his lifetime and drawn from the Louis I Kahn Collection at the University of Pennsylvania Archives, listing over 231 projects, of which at least 30 were previously unattributed. ”

Phaidon Press, 2005. Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Book has light rubbing to the covers, otherwise in near fine condition. The dust jacket has light rubbing to the covers as well and can be considered in near fine condition. Due to the item’s size and weight, overseas shipping will cost extra. See OUR OWN picture of this book for quality control. NB Highly sought after.