Louis Kahn

By Kassie Eulberg
Per 1
 Life
• Born February 20, 1901 on Saaremmaa Island
in Kuressaare.
• Kahn's Jewish parents immigrated to the United
States in 1906.
• His given name at birth was Itze-Leib
Schmuilowsky but was changed upon arrival in
the US.
• On March 17, 1974, he died of a heart attack in
a men's restroom in Pennsylvania Station in
New York City.
 Education/ Occupation
• He attended the University of Pennsylvania and received
his Bachelors degree in architecture at the age of 24.
• After college, he worked as a senior draftsman in the
office of Philadelphia City Architect John Molitor.
• To find his inspiration, he traveled through Europe
visiting castles and medieval strongholds in 1928, only 4
years after graduating.
• He finally started his own firm in 1935.
• While he still designed and worked as a design critic on
the side, Louis became a professor of architecture at
Yale school of Architecture.
 Personal designs
Kahn created many unique an intricate buildings,
but among his most memorable were…
* The Yale University Art gallery: 1951.
* The Jonas Salk institute for Biological
Studies: 1965
* The Margaret Esherick house: 1961
* The National Assembly building: 1962
Creations

Top left: The Jonas Salk institute for

Biological Studies
Top right: The National Assembly
building
Bottom left: The Yale University Art
gallery
Bottom right: The Margaret Esherick
house
 Buildings
The Yale university art Gallery
 Said to be Kahn’s first significant
commission.
Uses many bold lines, both parallel and
perpendicular, to make a statement.
In this amazing creation, he uses hollow
tetrahedral concrete ceiling and floor slab
system, which accommodate the
mechanical and electrical systems.
 Buildings (continued)
The Jonas Salk Institute for Biological
Studies
• Made to be a “garden” of stone and water.
• Built from reinforced concrete, marble,
crystal, wood, and water this masterpiece
standswith two parallel laboritories each
65 feet wide, and 245 feet long.
 Buildings (continued)
The Margaret Esherick house
 Built 1961
 One of Kahn’s few house designs
 Built mainly of stucco and wood
 It is a one bedroom residence created for a local
bookstore owner Margaret Esherick during that
time.
 Uses streamline silhouettes to open up space and
use natural light in a new an inventive way.
 Geometry in his work
Kahn used many different shapes and lines to
create his masterpieces. However, among his
most famous creations, he seems to favor both
parallel and perpendicular lines. Through his bold
technique, he created streamline, radical, and
futuristic looking buildings. His stile 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.
 Bibliography
Sokol, David. Louis Kahn-Designed House (Still) Up for Sale
http://archrecord.construction.com/news/daily/archives/08052k
ahn.asp© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Nov 8, 2008

Wikipedia, free encyclopedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Kahn
4 October 2008. Nov 9, 2008.

Cavern, Jackie. Louis Kahn, Modernist Architect. http://

architecture.about.com/od/greatarchitects//louiskahn.htm.
Nov 9, 2008.