by Wendy Lesser
Hochstim, Jan, The Paintings and Sketches of Louis I. Kahn. New York: Rizzoli, 1991.
Johnson, Eugene J., and Michael J. Lewis, Drawn from the Source: The Travel Sketches of Louis I. Kahn. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Financial support for this project was provided by Joan K. Davidson and Furthermore Grants in Publishing, a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and by the NEH Public Scholar Program, whose generous award enabled me to finish writing the book.
I would like to thank Sue Ann Kahn for permission to quote from the letters and unpublished writings of Esther I. Kahn and Louis I. Kahn. Additional permissions were granted by Nathaniel Kahn, Alexandra Tyng, Rhoda Kantor, and The Architectural Archives at the University of Pennsylvania. The Archives, home of the Louis I. Kahn Collection, are an essential resource for anyone writing about Kahn, and I am especially grateful to their curator, Bill Whitaker, for all the help he gave me with this book. Not only did he dig up everything I asked about, from architectural sketches to calendars and tax returns, from videotaped interviews to notebooks and letters; he also selflessly shared with me the results of his detailed research into the events of Louis Kahn’s life.
Pictorial assistance for this book came, to begin with, from the family members who shared with me their old family photographs—in particular Alex Tyng, Sue Ann Kahn, Nathaniel Kahn, Ona Russell, Rhoda Kantor, and Lauren Kahn. I want to thank them for allowing me to reproduce some of these pictures, and also to thank Sue Ann for permission to use four portraits done by Louis Kahn. Special thanks to Raymond Meier for generously allowing me to reproduce three of his terrific color photos of the Dhaka building’s interior, which I regretfully had to render in black-and-white. Thanks also to the Phillips Exeter Academy, which granted me permission to use two archival photos of the library; to the Kimbell Art Museum, which helpfully commissioned a new shot of the galleries; to the Keith de Lellis Gallery, which allowed me to reproduce their John Ebstel photos of the Trenton Bath House; and to Mort Paterson, who kindly supplied the snapshots of Marie Kuo. Finally, I must once again mention my gratitude to The Architectural Archives, which provided me with the scans for about a third of the photos, both personal and architectural, that appear in this book.
Other institutional assistance was supplied by the Institute of Personality and Social Research, University of California at Berkeley, which—through the kind assistance of Elizabeth Peele—gave me access to the results of the 1958 psychological study in which Kahn participated. The Museum of Modern Art in New York shared archival information about the 1961 show celebrating the Richards Building and the party that preceded it. The Jews in Latvia Museum in Riga, in the person of its director, Ilya Lensky, provided useful contextual information about Kahn’s birth and family background. And the New York Institute for the Humanities offered me, as always, both library privileges at NYU and enlightening conversations with knowledgeable colleagues.
Whoever attempts at the present time to write about Louis Kahn owes an enormous debt to the people who began documenting his life and work soon after his death. These include, first of all, Richard Saul Wurman, whose 1986 book What Will Be Has Always Been: The Words of Louis I. Kahn contains extensive quotations from Kahn’s notebooks and talks as well as a variety of interviews with those who knew him. Equally important for my purposes were Alessandra Latour’s two books, Louis I. Kahn: l’uomo, il maestro, in which she collects a crucial set of interviews she conducted in 1982 and 1983, and Louis I. Kahn: Writings, Lectures, Interviews, which reveals Kahn through his own words. David Brownlee and David De Long’s 1991 book Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture remains a central text, significantly amplified by Brownlee’s lengthy and detailed interviews with Esther Kahn, which are preserved on videotape at The Architectural Archives. Two books by family members, Alexandra Tyng’s Beginnings: Louis I. Kahn’s Philosophy of Architecture and Anne Griswold Tyng’s Louis Kahn to Anne Tyng: The Rome Letters, 1953–54, provided essential material for my project. Nathaniel Kahn’s marvelous film My Architect was both a beginning and an endpoint for me: I must have watched it at least six times since it first came out in 2003, and I have repeatedly drawn from it and tested my own ideas against it. The recent Vitra Design catalogue, Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture, is noteworthy for William Whitaker’s Chronology and List of Projects, both of which were crucial to my work. My predecessors in the work of biography, including Carter Wiseman and Charles Dagit, provided helpful information that was no longer available to me directly, and I owe a special debt to Joseph Burton for his seminal article on Louis Kahn’s aesthetic education.
Nothing can replace direct communication, though, and I am especially grateful to the people who talked to me about Louis Kahn. My greatest thanks go to his three children—Nathaniel Kahn, Alex Tyng, and Sue Ann Kahn—who spoke to me for untold hours and were generously willing to explore, with unremitting affection and occasional pain, the personality and achievements of their father. Other Kahn relatives whose conversation helped me a great deal include Rhoda Kantor, Alan Kahn, Marvin Kantor, Jeff Kahn, Lauren Kahn, Ona Russell, Leonard Traines, and Rebecca Tyng Kantor. Edward Abelson and Sandra Abelson, Esther Kahn’s nephew and niece, transmitted useful memories to me through their cousin Sue Ann. Harriet Pattison gave me advice and information in a series of friendly emails.
Just as Louis Kahn’s buildings could not have been built without the help of the people who worked with him, this book could not have been written without their essential aid. My heartfelt thanks go out to his former colleagues and employees—namely, Henry Wilcots, Fred Langford, David Slovic, Nick Gianopulos, Jack MacAllister, Richard Wurman, Gary Moye, Moshe Safdie, Ed Richards, David Rothstein, Rafael Villamil, Harry Palmbaum, and David Zuckerkandel. I will never forget, in particular, the fascinating day I spent talking about concrete with Fred, nor the precision of detail about architectural projects and office practices that emerged from Henry’s prodigiously well-stocked memory in response to my incessant questions.
Around the world, in every place I visited, people put themselves out to help me in my researches. In Ahmedabad, these essential helpers included the celebrated architect Balkrishna V. Doshi and his colleague Yatin Pandya. In Dhaka, James Timberlake and Jacob Mans kindly allowed me to join their Penn travel group; Shamsul Wares and Nurur Rahman Khan took time off from their architectural practices to speak with me in detail about Kahn; Dr. Shirin Sharman Chaudhury, Speaker of the Bangladesh Assembly, interrupted her busy day to talk with me about the Parliament Building; and Julfikar Ali Manik, journalist extraordinaire, devoted several days of his life to making my whole trip a success. In Estonia, I received the generous assistance of Heie Treier, who came down from Tallinn to show me Lou’s castle; Hannes Hanso, the hospitable mayor of Kuressaare; Olavi Pesti, Kuressaare’s chief historian; and Philippe Hache, a historically knowledgeable resident of Saaremaa. At Exeter, I was bountifully aided by librarians Gail Scanlon and Drew Gatto, archivists Edouard L. Desrochers and Thomas Wharton, and faculty member Todd Hearon. In Fort Worth, my trip to the Kimbell was enormously enhanced by conversations with local architect and Kahn scholar Mark Gunderson, as well as discussions about the building with museum director Eric Lee and curator Nancy Edwards. At the Salk Institute in La Jolla, I was the lucky recipient of Tim Ball’s detailed practical knowledge and Greg Lemke’s friendly openness; I also benefited from the kindness of Robert Redford, who loaned me a copy of his Salk Institute film—one segment of the six-part Cathedrals of Culture series—before its general release. At First Unitarian Church in Rochester, Carol Anne Teague made me feel welcome during my day-long visit and Bill Fugate answered my subsequent questions. In New York, Lois Sherr Dubin spoke with me about FDR Four Freedoms Park, Kahn’s early teaching years at Penn, and a variety of other subjects. In the Philadelphia area, Peter Arfaa, Morton Paterson, Joseph and Marianne Kuo, Larry Korman, Steve Korman, Toby Korman Davidov, John Andrew Gallery, and Norma Shapiro all gave generously of t
heir time to fill me in about Lou’s life and work; Dr. Bill Tasman advised me about cataract surgery in 1962; David Livewell directed me to Harry Kyriakodis’s history of the Northern Liberties ward; and Susan Solomon gave me a revelatory tour of the Trenton Bath House.
Many other people helped with this project in ways both large and small, and I want to single out a few of them. Martin and Barbara Bauer not only translated the Kahn family letters from German to English, but also offered me accommodation in their wonderful Katzbach Academy, where I was able to complete a first draft of the book. Katharine Michaels, Susan Solomon, and Laura Hartman each read the manuscript and commented on it with great delicacy and piercing practicality. Arthur Lubow, whose steadfast advice helped guide the whole process, lent crucial finishing touches to the final draft. Tom Laqueur, Jean Strouse, Stephen Greenblatt, and Mark Stevens wrote me letters of reference and listened to endless musings on the subject of Louis Kahn. Additional semi-captive listeners included Joe Lelyveld, Janny Scott, Alida Becker, Tim Clark, Anne Wagner, Nick Rizzo, Charlie Haas, BK Moran, Simone Di Piero, Toni Martin, David Hollander, Patty Unterman, Tim Savinar, Mimi Chubb, James Lasdun, Brenda Wineapple, and, above all, my husband, Richard Rizzo, who accompanied me on many of the site visits and formulated several astute observations that I shamelessly stole for the book.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux is the kind of publishing house that makes it a pleasure to be a writer. From Jonathan Galassi and Jeff Seroy, both longtime friends of mine, to the many production, editorial, design, and publicity people—Tyler Comrie, Brian Gittis, Debra Helfand, John Knight, Jonathan Lippincott, Rob Sternitzky, and others—who brought my manuscript to its finished state and beyond, the people at FSG have jointly steered this book into its best possible shape. None of them shares responsibility for any of its faults, but they all deserve praise for its virtues. Of no one is this more true than Ileene Smith, my cherished editor of three books so far and many more to come, I hope.
INDEX
The index that appears in the print version of this title does not match the pages in your e-book. Please use the search function on your e-reading device to search for terms of interest. For your reference, the terms that appear in the print index are listed below.
A
Aalto, Alvar
Abbasad
Abelson, Edward
Abelson, Milton
Abelson, Olivia Israeli
Abelson, Sandra
Adalaj Stepwell
Adler, Francis
Ahavath Israel synagogue
Ahmedabad. See also Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Albers, Anni
Albers, Josef
Alhambra
Allen, Officer
Alpers, Dr. Bernard
Alpers, Lillian
Amalgamated City Clothing Workers of America
American Academy in Rome
American Academy of Arts and Letters
American Federation of Labor Medical Center
American Institute of Architects (AIA); Gold Medal; Philadelphia memorial service for Kahn
American Shipper, S.S.
American Society of Planners and Architects (ASPA)
American Village
American Wind Symphony Orchestra; music barge
Amsterdam
Angerer, Fred, Surface Structures in Building
Anshutz, Thomas
Architects Associated
Architectural Digest
Architectural Forum
Architectural Registration Examination
Architectural Research Group (ARG)
Arensburg; birthplace of Kahn. See also Kuressaare
Arensburg Castle
Arfaa, Peter
Armstrong, Rodney
Art Deco
Assisi
Austria
Awami League
Aztec style
B
Bacon, Ed; Kahn and
Badgley, Louise
Ball, Tim
Baltimore
Bangladesh; Liberation War. See also National Assembly Building of Bangladesh
Barragán, Luis
Barry, Claire
Baths of Caracalla
Battery Workers Union
Bauer, Catherine
Bauhaus
Beaux-Arts tradition
Becker, Eddie
Beer, Abraham
Beethoven, Ludwig van, Pastoral Symphony
Belgium
Belluschi, Pietro
Bendiner, Alfred
Berkeley creativity study
Berlage, Hendrik
Berlin
Beth-El synagogue, Chappaqua. See also Temple Beth-El
Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali
Binswanger, Frank
Binswanger, Suzanne
Bishop Field Estate
Blake, Peter
Blake, William
Bok Award. See Philadelphia Award
Bombay
Borromini, Francesco
Braik, Douglas G.
Braun, Edith
Breuer, Marcel
Broadway United Church of Christ
Bronze Medal of the Arthur Spayd Brooke Memorial Prize
Brown, Denise Scott
Brown, Frank E.; influence on Kahn; Roman Architecture
Brown, Richard
Brown, Robert Montgomery
Brownlee, David
Brutalism
Bryn Mawr (Erdman Hall)
Burton, Joseph A.
C
Caillebotte, Gustave, On the Pont de l’Europe
Caine, Rabbi Ivan
Calcutta
Canada
Carborundum factory
Carlihan, Elizabeth Ware
Carl Mackley Houses
Carnegie Mellon
Carver Court
Castel del Monte
Catholicism
Central High School, Philadelphia
Chappaqua, New York
charcoal
Chaudhury, Dr. Shirin Sharmin
Chester Avenue house; living with Esther’s family in; Kahn artwork at; move from
Chestnut Hill private school campus
Chiang Kai-shek
Chicago; “Century of Progress” Exposition
Chicago Art Institute
China
Choisy, Histoire de l’architecture
City Beautiful movement
City Tower
Clark, T. J.; Picasso and Truth
classicism
Clever, Fred and Elaine
Clever House
Clinton Street house
Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Colosseum
Comly, Al, Jr.
Committee for the Six Million
Communism
Condé, Kathy
Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne
Constitution, S.S.
Copland, Aaron
Corbusier, Le; Chandigarh; City Museum; influence on Kahn; Oeuvre complete; Ronchamp Chapel; La Tourette monastery
Cret, Paul Philippe
Cronheim and Weger
Cubism
cycloid arch
Czechoslovakia
D
Dacca. See Dhaka
Dagit, Charles
Day, Kenneth
Day, Richard
de Chirico, Giorgio
Degas, Edgar, After the Bath
De Hooch, Pieter
DeMars, Vernon
Denmark
Depression
Detroit
Dhaka
Dhaka Assembly Building. See National Assembly Building of Bangladesh
Dominican Motherhouse project
Doshi, Balkrishna; Indian Institute of Management project
Doshi, Maneesha
Dubin, Fred
Dubin, Lois Sherr
Dudok, Willem
Dulwich Picture Gallery
E
Eakins, Thomas
Eames, Charles
École des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Edwards, Nancy
Egypt
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Emmanuel, Mother
England
Enrico Fermi Memorial competition
Erdman Hall. See Bryn Mawr
Esherick, Joe
Esherick, Margaret
Esherick, Wharton
Esherick House
Estonia
Evening Bulletin
Exeter Library. See Phillips Exeter Library
F
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
Farrow, Alma
FDR Four Freedoms Park; completion of; construction; experience of; materials
Federal Works Agency
Fine, Harold
Finland
First Unitarian Church, Rochester; ceiling; conception of; dedication of; materials
Fisher, Doris and Norman
Fisher House
Fleisher, Samuel
Florence
Folger Shakespeare Library
Folmer, Officer
Ford Foundation
Fort Wayne fine arts center
Four Freedoms Park. See FDR Four Freedoms Park
France
Frazier, Charles
Freedman, Gerry
Freedman, Joe
Freedman, Sarah Kahn
Freud, Anna
Fulbright Foundation
Fuller, Buckminster
Furey, Dr. John
G
Gabor
Galileo
Gatto, Drew
Gaudi, Antonio
Gehry, Frank
Genel House
Geren, Preston
Germany
Gershwin, George, “Rhapsody in Blue”
Gianopulos, Nick
Gilot, Françoise
Giurgola, Adelaide
Giurgola, Aldo
Glenwood Housing Project
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Goldberger, Paul
golden section
Goss, Dr.
Graduate Theological Union library, Berkeley
Grand Central Station, New York City
Grand Tour of Europe
Graphic Sketch Club
Gravell, Major
Gray, William F.
Greater Philadelphia Movement
Greece
Green, Wilder
Gropius, Walter
Guadet, Julien; Éléments et théorie de l’architecture
