| (b. Saarama (Saaremaa), Estonia
1901; d. New York, N.Y. 1974)
Louis Kahn was born in Saarama (Saaremaa),
Estonia in 1901. His family emigrated to the U.S. in 1905. He graduated
from the University of Pennsylvania with a thorough grounding the the
Beaux Art school of architecture. During the 1920s and 1930s he worked as
a draughtsman and, later, as a head designer for several
Philadelphia-based firms.
In 1925-26 Kahn acted as the Chief of
Design for the Sesquincettennial Exhibition. During the Depression, he was
active in the design of public assisted housing. Beginning in 1935 Kahn
worked with a series of partners, but from 1948 until his death in 1974,
Kahn worked alone. From 1947 to 1957 he was Design Critic and Professor of
Architecture at Yale University, after which he was Dean at the University
of Pennsylvania.
Kahn's architecture is notable for its
simple, platonic forms and compositions. Through the use of brick and
poured-in place concrete masonry, he developed a contemporary and
monumental architecture that maintained a sympathy for the site. While
rooted in the International Style, Kahn's architecture was an amalgam of
his Beaux Arts education and a personal aesthetic impulse to develop his
own architectural forms.
Considered one of the foremost architects
of the late twentieth century, Kahn received the AIA Gold Medal in 1971
and the RIBA Gold Medal in 1972. He was elected a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Letters in 1971.
References
Dennis Sharp. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of
Architects and Architecture. New York: Quatro Publishing, 1991. ISBN
0-8230-2539-X. NA40.I45. p86. |