Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974

Louis I. Kahn was born in Estonia and raised in Philadelphia. He was trained in architecture in the Beaux-Arts tradition at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Philippe Cret. As a mature architect, Kahn was distinguished from his contemporaries (in a period dominated by the International Style) by his unique personal philosophy of architecture and a style marked by a profound sense of history and pure geometry in design and the texture of materials in construction. His legacy is as much in his teaching and his unbuilt designs as in his major built works. He lectured and wrote on architecture beginning in the 1930s. He taught at Yale University from 1947 to 1955 and was Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 until his death.

Louis I. Kahn was born in Estonia and raised in Philadelphia. He was trained in architecture in the Beaux-Arts tradition at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Philippe Cret. As a mature architect, Kahn was distinguished from his contemporaries (in a period dominated by the International Style) by his unique personal philosophy of architecture and a style marked by a profound sense of history and pure geometry in design and the texture of materials in construction. His legacy is as much in his teaching and his unbuilt designs as in his major built works. He lectured and wrote on architecture beginning in the 1930s. He taught at Yale University (1947-1955) and was Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 until his death. Neal Thompson was on the staff of Kahn's architectural office. He is the presumed photographer.

Architect; b. Island of Osel, Russia, brought to U.S., 1905, naturalized, 1915; B. Arch., U. Pa., 1924; private practice architecture, 1953-1974; prof. architecture, U. Pa., 1957-1974, named to Paul Philippe Cret chair in architecture, 1966-1971, emeritus, 1971-1974; prof. architecture, Yale, 1952-1957; among his principal works are the Yale Art Gallery and the Yale Center for British Art.

The First Unitarian Congregational Society of Rochester, New York was established in 1829. In 1959 the Congregation commissioned architect Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974) to design what would become its fourth home. The new church and school was dedicated on November 18, 1962. A later addition, also designed by Kahn, was completed in 1969 to house additional meeting rooms for the church's school.

Louis I. Kahn was born in Estonia and raised in Philadelphia. He was trained in architecture in the Beaux-Arts tradition at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Philippe Cret. As a mature architect, Kahn was distinguished from his contemporaries (in a period dominated by the International Style) by his unique personal philosophy of architecture and a style marked by a profound sense of history and pure geometry in design and the texture of materials in construction. His legacy is as much in his teaching and his unbuilt designs as in his major built works. He lectured and wrote on architecture beginning in the 1930s. He taught at Yale University (1947-1955) and was Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 until his death.

Kahn was retained by the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif. as the architect to design the projected Common Library building. He completed preliminary designs prior to his unexpected death in 1974.

Louis I. Kahn was born in Estonia and raised in Philadelphia. He was trained in architecture in the Beaux-Arts tradition at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Philippe Cret. As a mature architect, Kahn was distinguished from his contemporaries (in a period dominated by the International Style) by his unique personal philosophy of architecture and a style marked by a profound sense of history and pure geometry in design and the texture of materials in construction. His legacy is as much in his teaching and his unbuilt designs as in his major built works. He lectured and wrote on architecture beginning in the 1930s. He taught at Yale University (1947-1955) and was Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 until his death.

Kahn's major built works include: Yale University Art Gallery; Alfred Newton Richards Medical Research Building, University of Pennsylvania; Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California; First Unitarian Church and School, Rochester, New York; Performing Arts Theater, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Eleanor Donnelley Erdman Hall, Bryn Mawr College; Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India; Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Yale Center for British Art. When Kahn died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1974, two of his most important works, the Yale Center for British Art and the national capital of Bangladesh at Dhaka, were still under construction. After his death, his office was closed, but his former associates completed, when possible, the projects under construction.

Louis I. Kahn was born in Estonia and raised in Philadelphia. He was trained in architecture in the Beaux-Arts tradition at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Philippe Cret. As a mature architect, Kahn was distinguished from his contemporaries (in a period dominated by the International Style) by his unique personal philosophy of architecture and a style marked by a profound sense of history and pure geometry in design and the texture of materials in construction. His legacy is as much in his teaching and his unbuilt designs as in his major built works. He lectured and wrote on architecture beginning in the 1930s. He taught at Yale University (1947-1955) and was Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 until his death.

Kahn designed and built a new building for Temple Beth-El of Northern Westchester, located in Chappaqua, New York, from 1966 to 1972. Leonard Feldman, a practicing architect, served on the congregation's Building Committee. He was born on May 4, 1921 in New York City and served in the Air Force during World War II. He received the degree of B. Arch. in 1947 from New York University and worked for a number of firms before establishing his own practice in White Plains, New York.