Master of light

Source: https://pt.slideshare.net/sahildiwan90/ar-
louis-i-kahn/3

Biography

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•
Louis Kahn
The man who was an island
Louis Kahn
The man who was an island
Timeline ESHRICK
HOUSE

MORTON
1924 GOLDENBURG

SALK 1960
MORTON
INSTITUTE FISHER
WEISS
KORMAN HOUSE
1949 HOUSE
HOUSE
FLEISCHER
OSER HOUSE
1940 HOUSE 1959

WINSLOW 1958 LAWRENCE MORRIS KIMBELL ART

TOMPKINS HOUSE MUSEUM
1947 1972
1974

1952
-1954 1957
 Source:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Louis_I._Kahn.html

Introduction
•
•
•

Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/justaname26/25198281778
 Source:
http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Louis_I._Kahn.html

Introduction
•
•
•

Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/justaname26/25198281778
 Source: archdaily.com/

Driving Forces
Kahn always had a great interest in bringing about social changes through architecture.
From 1950 to 1951 he was made the architect in residence at the American Academy in Rome. It was a huge achievement and a peak point for Kahn’s
career.
It was during this time that he got the opportunity to visit Greece, Egypt and Italy and developed his own basic approach towards architecture. He
adapted classical style and used solid forms and durable materials in his own work and combined them tactfully with modern techniques.

Piazza Flaminio, Rome IIM, Ahmedabad

 Concept
monumental beyond modernism

•
•
•
•

His style is his own, and his creations are legendary, through the use of geometry, he has created
both beautiful works of art, and useful establishments, for the whole world to enjoy.

Source:
http://www.artefacts.co.za/main/Buildings/archframes.php?archi
d=2111&countadd=1 Source: https://divisare.com/authors/2144727832-louis-kahn
 Primitive power
Deep
Enormous weight
Brooding

Somber

Poetic

Haunting
 Source: http://timelinestudio.blogspot.com/2011/04/louis-

Characteristics
isadore-kahn-1901-1974-u.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3130/jaabe.13.389

Re-examination of structure
Form | Space | Light

+ + +

•
•
 Ideologies and Philosophies
“A great building must begin with the unmeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed and in the
end must be unmeasurable.”

emotional self-awareness as a necessary believed in going beyond the ordinary limits

pre-condition to improving society and of thought and experience in several senses:
bettering the human condition.

Design Development

Source: Kahn, on the creation of Form, 1960

Source: http://architect.architecture.sk/louis-isadore-kahn-architect/louis-isadore-kahn-architect.php
Ideologies and Philosophies
Measurable and Unmeasurable

Silence and Light

evoke silence, secret or drama with light and shadow

Source: https://medium.com/@simin.jasminelee/the-architecture-expression-of-
louis-kahn-and-romanticism-fda791efaeea
 Source: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/architecture/life-and-

Translating into Built Form

work-of-louis-kahn-architecture-essay.php

•
 Source: https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-
great-architects-louis-kahn/

Translating into Built Form

+ =
Source: https://www.slideshare.net/vijiramesh24/louis-i-kahn-33384097
Works in India and Influences
•

• Phillips Exeter Academy Library, New Hampshire

Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal

Source: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/architecture/life-and-work-of-louis-
kahn-architecture-essay.php
 Source : archdaily.com/

IIM Ahmedabad
Concept

SOURCE :
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/601
http://design-concepts-and-concerns.blogspot.com/2007/09
 Faculty blocks

Louis Kahn Plaza

SOURCE : http://nirman.com/blog/2017/04/22/indian-institute-of-management-ahmedabad-
starting-a-new-tradition/
Dormitories Classrooms

SOURCE : https://worldarchitecture.org/article-
links/eccgn/louis-kahn-s-iim-ahmedabad-snk-
completes-restoration-upgradation-of-vikram-
sarabhai-library.html
Library

Materials

SOURCE : https://worldarchitecture.org/article-links/eccgn/louis-kahn-s-iim-ahmedabad-snk-completes-
restoration-upgradation-of-vikram-sarabhai-library.html
National Assembly Of Bangladesh
Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka

Source: banglapedia.org
 Source: trendir.com/modernist-architecture/

Los Manantiales, Mexico United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, Colorado
Pictures Courtesy of ArchDaily
•

River shape of Bay of

Bengal

Source: banglapedia.org “Light is a creator of space” – L.I.K

Light wells
Bangladeshi
geometric shapes

Source: Author

[I] have introduced a light-giving element to the interior of the plan.

If you see a series of columns you can say that the choice of columns
is a choice in light. The columns as solids frame the spaces of light.
Now think of it just in reverse and think that the columns are hollow
Large artificial lake and much bigger and that their walls can themselves give light,
then the voids are rooms, and the column is the maker of light and
can take on complex shapes and be the supporter of spaces and
give light to spaces.
- L.K
Source: coreyaber.com/
Conclusion
•