Louis Kahn - Hardcover

Rykwert, Joseph; Schezen, Roberto

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810942267 ISBN 13: 9780810942264

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2001

Synopsis

The publication of this book coincides with the centenary of the birth of American architect Louis Kahn (1901-1974), though its immediate occasion is the new collection of photographs that illustrate the text and provide an opportunity to reconsider Kahn's achievement and his way of working. Architectural historian Joseph Rykwert has written a sensitive appreciation of Kahn's career and oeuvre, and photographer Roberto Schezen traveled the world to photograph fifteen of Kahn's major projects especially for this volume. Supplementing the photographs are dozens of Kahn's sketches and plans for many of his built and unbuilt designs.

About this title

About the Author:

Joseph Rykwert is Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania.

From Library Journal:

American architect Louis Kahn (1901-74) believed in monumental architecture and "a spiritual quality inherent in a structure, which conveys a feeling of its eternity." Unfortunately, many observers find his work incredibly imposing, dense, and unfriendly; in his peak years, 1965-73, he exhibited an exceptional ability to make different buildings with varied purposes look like Soviet-era parking garages. He is nevertheless an important architect, and Rykwert, Paul Phillipe Cret Professor of Architecture emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, has written a careful and laudatory introduction to his work. Fifteen of his projects, institutional and residential, are shown in this volume. Each building is framed by a brief text that indicates place, purpose, and architecture, along with a floor plan and quality photographs of interiors and exteriors. The volume stresses in word and image Kahn's goal of making enduring buildings. He succeeded, even if his architecture does look like the tool of a totalitarian government. Recommended for collections where there is an interest in the architect's work or in the 1960s-to-1970s era of modern-gone-monumental. David Bryant, New Canaan Lib., CT

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0810942267
• ISBN 13: 9780810942264
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224