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Louis I. Kahn architectural records and personal papers, ca. 1908-1984.
Architectural Archives, 215 898-8323 030
Mixed Availability
- Format:
- Other
- Author/Creator:
- Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974.
- Kahn, Louis I.
- Yale University. Art Gallery--Buildings.
- Yale University.
- University of Pennsylvania--Buildings.
- University of Pennsylvania.
- University of Pennsylvania. Graduate School of Fine Arts--History--Sources.
- Bryn Mawr College--Buildings.
- Bryn Mawr College.
- Davis Library (Phillips Exeter Academy)--Buildings.
- Davis Library (Phillips Exeter Academy).
- Kimbell Art Museum--Buildings.
- Kimbell Art Museum.
- Yale Center for British Art--Buildings.
- Yale Center for British Art.
- Public buildings--Bangladesh.
- Public buildings.
- College buildings--Designs and plans.
- College buildings.
- Architects--Archives.
- Architects.
- Architectural design--History--20th century--Sources.
- Architectural design.
- Architectural drawing--United States.
- Architectural drawing.
- Architecture--United States--History--20th century--Designs and plans.
- Architecture.
- Architecture, American--India--20th century.
- Architecture, American.
- Architecture, American--Bangladesh--20th century.
- Architectural design--Study and teaching--History--Sources.
- Philadelphia (Pa.)--Buildings, structures, etc--History--Sources.
- Philadelphia (Pa.).
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies--Buildings.
- First Unitarian Church (Rochester, NY)--Buildings.
- Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad--Buildings.
- Alfred Newton Richards Medical Research Building (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Performing Arts Theater (Fort Wayne, Ind.).
- Eleanor Donnelley Erdman Hall (Bryn Mawr, Pa.).
- Sher-e-Bangla Nagar (Dhaka, Bangladesh)--Buildings, structures, etc--History--Sources.
- Local Subjects:
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies--Buildings.
- First Unitarian Church (Rochester, NY)--Buildings.
- Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad--Buildings.
- Alfred Newton Richards Medical Research Building (Philadelphia, Pa.).
- Performing Arts Theater (Fort Wayne, Ind.).
- Eleanor Donnelley Erdman Hall (Bryn Mawr, Pa.).
- Sher-e-Bangla Nagar (Dhaka, Bangladesh)--Buildings, structures, etc--History--Sources.
- Genre:
- Architectural drawings -- American.
- Travel sketches.
- Photographs.
- Models.
- Physical Description:
- ca. 6500 sketches.
- ca. 40,000 sheets : various media.
- 10 v.
- ca. 15,000 photoprints.
- 100 items.
- 148 cu. ft.
- 25 cu. ft.
- Other Title:
- Louis I. Kahn collection 030.
- Louis I. Kahn collections.
- Place of Publication:
- ca. 1908-1984.
- Biography/History:
- Louis I. Kahn was born in Estonia and raised in Philadelphia. He was trained in architecture in the Beaux-Arts tradition at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Philippe Cret. As a mature architect, Kahn was distinguished from his contemporaries (in a period dominated by the International Style) by his unique personal philosophy of architecture and a style marked by a profound sense of history and pure geometry in design and the texture of materials in construction. His legacy is as much in his teaching and his unbuilt designs as in his major built works. He lectured and wrote on architecture beginning in the 1930s. He taught at Yale University (1947-1955) and was Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 until his death.
- Kahn's major built works include: Yale University Art Gallery; Alfred Newton Richards Medical Research Building, University of Pennsylvania; Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California; First Unitarian Church and School, Rochester, New York; Performing Arts Theater, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Eleanor Donnelley Erdman Hall, Bryn Mawr College; Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India; Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Yale Center for British Art. When Kahn died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1974, two of his most important works, the Yale Center for British Art and the national capital of Bangladesh at Dhaka, were still under construction. After his death, his office was closed, but his former associates completed, when possible, the projects under construction.
- Summary:
- This collection comprises the entire professional archive of Louis I. Kahn, with the addition of personal materials. After Kahn's death, his estate faced substantial financial obligations, primarily wages and professional fees to consultants, and the decision was made to liquidate the assets of the firm. The entire archive was purchased in 1976 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and was placed on permanent loan to the University of Pennsylvania the following year. The trustees of the University assumed responsibility for making the collection available for scholarly research, exhibition and publication. After the projects still under construction at Kahn's death were brought to completion, documentation for those projects was donated to the Architectural Archives by Kahn's former associates. Personal materials were donated to the Architectural Archives by family and friends. Additional materials continue to be received.
- Architectural drawings in Kahn's own hand include sketches for his built works and also a large number of important designs for works which were never built. His professional writings, published and unpublished, document his personal philosophy of architecture and his perspective on the architecture and urban planning of his time. Substantial documentation is found in this collection for all Kahn's mature works. Materials may include preliminary sketches, schematic drawings, design development drawings, construction drawings, construction photographs, office files and models. In addition, the collection includes photographs of completed buildings by distinguished photographers. Kahn's archive contains drawings by his associates and employees; no attempt has been made to identify and index drawings by a particular associate or employee. Oscar Stonorov and George Howe were his associates for a number of earlier projects. Anne Griswold Tyng made substantial design contributions to several Kahn projects. The national capital of Bangladesh at Dhaka was completed by David Wisdom & Associates (David Wisdom, Henry Wilcots and Reyhan T. Larimer). The Yale Center for British Art was completed by Pellechia and Meyers (Anthony Pellechia and Marshall D. Meyers). Professional correspondence includes letters to and from major architects of Kahn's period. Correspondence has not been indexed.
- Personal materials include childhood sketches, travel sketches, personal and family photographs, drawing materials and drafting equipment. In addition, a small amount of personal correspondence is found mixed in with professional correspondence. The collection contains only one student drawing from Kahn's architectural education at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Finding Aid/Index:
- Drawings in Kahn's hand are cataloged at the item level in 7 published volumes. The Louis I. Kahn archive : personal drawings : the completely illustrated catalogue of the drawings in the Louis I. Kahn Collection. New York : Garland, 1988.
- Printed finding aids are available at the Architectural Archives for Series II, Project and Office Records, Series IV, Photoprints Transparencies and Negatives, and Series V, Slides. Electronic finding aids are available in PDF (free Acrobat Reader required). Finding aids for other materials will be produced as processing progresses.
- This collection is indexed in Philadelphia Architects and Buildings, a searchable database of architectural research materials. See Web Link.
- Cited as:
- Louis I. Kahn Collection, University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
- Constituent Unit:
- Series II, Project and Office Records.
- Series IV, Photoprints Transparencies and Negatives.
- Series V, Slides.
- OCLC:
- 140746601
- Access Restriction:
- Collection available for research by appointment only.
- Online:
- Finding Aid for Series II:
- Finding Aid for Series IV and V:
- Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
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