The Essential Louis Kahn

Book excerpt: This photographic tour of every one of the buildings designed solely by Louis Kahn represents the architect's greatest accomplishments. This book focuses on over twenty buildings that were designed solely by Louis Kahn. From his native city of Philadelphia to the heart of Bangladesh, Kahn's architecture reflected his fascination with science, mathematics, history, and nature. Striking new interior and exterior photographs by esteemed architectural photographer Cemal Emden reveal the characteristic features of Kahn's aesthetic: juxtaposed materials, repetition of line and shape and geometric precision. Also evident is the way Kahn's designs flourish in a variety of settings--religious, governmental, educational, and residential. The book gives close attention to Kahn's most iconic buildings, including Erdman Hall at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania; the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad; the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, as well as a cluster of residences he designed in the Philadelphia area. Chapter openers written by architecture professor Caroline Maniaque, an introduction by academic Jale Erzen and an extensive chronology by academic Zekiye Abali, as well as a selection of Kahn's most insightful statements complete this book, which allows for a rich understanding of Kahn's architectural ingenuity.