Written by Dana Demange
VOICE ONE:
I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Barbara Klein with the VOA Special English program, People in
America. Today, we tell about Louis Kahn. He is considered one of the most
important American building designers of the twentieth century.
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VOICE ONE:
Louis Kahn helped define modern architecture. Architecture is the art and
science of designing and building structures such as houses, museums, and
office buildings. Kahn’s architecture has several defining qualities.
For example, Kahn was very interested in the look and feel of the materials he
used. He used brick and concrete in new and special ways. Kahn also paid
careful attention to the use of sunlight. He liked natural light to enter his
buildings through interesting kinds of windows and openings. Kahn’s work can
also be identified by his creative use of geometric shapes. Many of his
buildings use squares, circles and three sided shapes called triangles.
VOICE TWO:
Louis Kahn was born in Estonia in nineteen-oh-one. When he was five years old
his family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even as a child, Louis Kahn
showed excellence as an artist. When he was in school his pictures won several
competitions organized by the city. In high school, Kahn studied architecture
briefly. He later went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied
architecture full time. He graduated in nineteen twenty-four.
Louis Kahn’s buildings have many influences. Some experts say his trip to
Rome, Italy in nineteen fifty-one influenced him the most. Kahn spent a few
months as an architect with the American Academy in Rome. He also traveled
through other parts of Italy, Greece and Egypt. There, he saw the ancient
Greek and Roman ruins that also would influence his works. He was very
affected by the size and design of these ruins. They helped influence him to
develop an architecture that combines both modern and ancient designs.
Other experts believe Kahn was also influenced by the part of Philadelphia
where he grew up. There were many factory buildings with large windows. These
brick structures were very solid. This industrial design is apparent in
several of Kahn’s early works.
VOICE ONE:
Kahn’s first projects involved building housing in Philadelphia. He later
received government jobs to design housing during World War Two. In nineteen
forty-two, he became a head architect of the Public Building Administration.
Kahn’s first important project was the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven,
Connecticut in the early nineteen fifties. The outside of the building is very
simple. The surface is made of brick and limestone.
The inside of the gallery shows Kahn’s great artistic sense. For example, he
created a triangle-shaped walkway of steps that sits inside a rounded concrete
shell. This building was very popular. Its completion represented an important
step in Kahn’s professional life. He was now a famous architect.
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VOICE TWO:
The Salk Institute in La Jolla, California
One of Kahn’s other important buildings is the Salk Institute, a research
center in La Jolla, California. It was built in the nineteen sixties. This
structure further shows how Kahn was able to unite form and function. This
means his buildings were beautiful and also useful.
The Salk Institute has two structures that surround a marble garden area or
courtyard. This outdoor marble area is almost completely bare. The only detail
is a small stream of water running through the middle of the square towards
the Pacific Ocean. This simple design is very striking. Inside the building
are many rooms for laboratories. Kahn was very careful to make sure they all
received natural light and a view of the ocean. He linked the indoor and
outdoor spaces in a very beautiful way.
VOICE ONE:
Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas
The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is another famous building by
Louis Kahn. Some say it is his best. Kahn built this museum in the early
nineteen seventies. This large museum has long rooms with curved or vaulted
ceilings. Inside, all of the walls can be moved to best fit the art
collection. Kahn was able to make the concrete material of the building look
both solid and airy. He used sunlight and bodies of water to create a truly
special building.
Kahn once said this about the Kimbell Art Museum: “The building feels…that I
had nothing to do with it…that some other hand did it.” The architect seems
to say that he was helped by some higher influence. Many people feel that his
architecture has a very spiritual and timeless quality.
Kahn mostly created public buildings such as museums and libraries. However,
he also designed a few houses. His most famous home is the Fisher house near
Philadelphia. It is made of several box- shaped buildings. The house is made
out of glass, wood and stone. Many windows provide a view of the nearby trees.
