Louis i kahn

1Louis isadore kahn

Louis isadore Kahn.....

Submitted by:Amandeep kaur(Ar/10/604)Dutika gautam (Ar/10/612)Gayatri dutt sharma (Ar/10/613)

2Louis isadore kahn

INTRODUCTION

• Louis Isadore Kahn (1901-1974), U.S. architect, educator, and philosopher, is one of the foremost twentieth-century architects.

• Born in 1901 on the Baltic island of Osel, Louis Isadore Kahn's family emigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1905, where Louis Isadore Kahn lived the rest of his life.

• Trained in the manner of the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Paul Philippe Cret, Louis Isadore Kahn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Fine Arts in 1924.

• In the following years Louis Isadore Kahn worked in the offices of Philadelphia's leading architects, Paul Cret (1929-1930) and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary (1930-1932).

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During the lean years of the 1930s, Louis Isadore Kahn was devoted to the study of modern architecture and housing in particular.

Louis I. Kahn undertook housing studies for the Architectural Research Group (1932-1933), a short-lived organization Louis Isadore Kahn helped to establish, and for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

The year 1947 was a turning point in Louis Isadore Kahn 's career. Kahn established an independent practice and began a distinguished teaching career, first at Yale University as Chief Critic in Architectural Design and Professor of Architecture (1947-1957) and then at the University of Pennsylvania as Cret Professor of Architecture (1957-1974).

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CHARACTERISTICS• Louis I. Kahn evolved an original theoretical and

formal language that revitalized modern architecture. • They reveal an integration of structure, a reverence

for materials and light, a devotion to archetypal geometry, and a profound concern for humanistic values.

• Eschewing the international style modernism that characterized his earlier work, Kahn sought to redefine the bases of architecture through a re-examination of structure, form, space, and light.

• Beyond its functional role, Louis Isadore Kahn believed architecture must also evoke the feeling and symbolism of timeless human values.

• Louis I. Kahn attempted to explain the relationship between the rational and romantic dichotomy in his "form-design" thesis, a theory of composition articulated in 1959.

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PHILOSOPHY

• In his personal philosophy, form is conceived as formless and unmeasurable , a spiritual power common to all mankind. It transcends individual thoughts, feelings, and conventions.

• Form characterizes the conceptual essence of one project from another, and thus it is the initial step in the creative process.

• The union of form and design is realized in the final product, and the building's symbolic meaning is once again unmeasurable.

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ARCHITECTUREIS THE

THOUGHTFULMAKING OF

SPACES

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• Defined space by means of masonry masses and a lucid structure laid out in geometric, formal schemes and axial layouts with a strong processional character of space and images.

• Beaux-arts tradition- Neoclassical architectural style, sculptural decoration along conservative modern lines.

• Natural Light-Brought architecture to life.

• Modernisim.• To design is to plan and to organize , to

order , to relate and to control in short it embraces all means opposing disorder and accident.

• Social responsibility reflected in his later philosophy of the institutions of man.

• Architecture is timeless.

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SIGNIFICANT ELEMENTS OF DESIGNKahn wanted to redefine the bases of architecture through a re-examination of structure, form, space, and light; since his earlier work abstained from the international style modernism.

Earlier works of Kahn had a traditional international style of architecture. However somewhere in the middle of his career, Kahn turned his back on this traditional approach and pursued innovation by redefining the use of structure, light, form and space.

"Louis Kahn described his quest for meaningful form as a search for "beginnings," a spiritual resource from which modern man could draw inspiration“.

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Kahn was also influenced by the part of Philadelphia where he grew up. There were many factory buildings with large windows. These brick structures were very solid. This industrial design is apparent in several of Kahn's early works.Louis Kahn must be credited for re-introducing various concepts which most of the modern architects had deserted like centralized spaces, using extensive geometric principles and demonstrating solid mural strength.Kahn's buildings are admired for outstanding use of geometric shapes and implementing platonic geometry principles which creates magnificent experience for the user. For Kahn it was NATURAL LIGHT that brought architecture to life, the Artificial light had an unvarying “DEAD” quality in contrast to the ever-changing daylight.Kahn realised the importance of sunlight and was highly impressed by its usage in Egyptians and Greek works. Hence Kahn's works demonstrates wide-scale implementation of sunlight through different kinds of interesting windows and openings.

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Kahn was known to appreciate the appearance and feel of different materials that he used in his work.

Kahn is also known to have used brick and concrete extensively and his innovative usage of these materials demonstrated his talent to the world.

Egyptian works also inspired Kahn to use extensive geometric shapes and hence we find many of his buildings taking shape of squares, circles or triangles.


SERVED AND SERVENT.1. SERVED-WORKING SPACES2. SERVENT-SERVICE AREASIn 1954, in his Yale Art Gallery the frame is concealed while emphasis is placed on the monumentalization of walls, floors, and ceilings. The main orthogonal volume is animated by a cylindrical form housing the major access stair. Here, the cylinder is the "servant" and the rectangle the "served" form. This asymmetrical architecture depends no longer on the manifestation of structure as frame but rather on the manipulation of surface as the ultimate agent for the revelation of light, space and support.


EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS WHERE ELEMENTS OF LOUIS KAHN DESIGN WERE IMPLEMENTED..

Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Connecticut, 1951-1953). Kahn's first architectural masterpiece.the structural innovations demonstrated by hollow tetrahedral concrete ceiling and floor slab system.Kahn's magnificent artistic sense can be seen from the design of the triangle-shaped staircase which sits in a rounded concrete shell, defining the servant space to be distinguished from the served spaces of the building.Richards Medical Research Building at the University of Pennsylvania (1957-1965) and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (LaJolla, California, 1959-1965) demonstrated magnificent use of spaces and is the primarily responsible for the origin of the phrase 'served and servant spaces'.

Richards Medical Research Building

Yale university


the Yale Art Gallery extension (1951-53) or the Trenton Boathouse in New Jersey (1954-59) or even the Richards Medical Towers in Philadelphia (1957-62), create astonishing effects with the change in light, all possible due to the intelligent use of space and light.As a result, the user gets an entirely different experience of working in the building during different times of a day.


INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, AHMEDABAD IN INDIA

ESTABLISHED 1961

TYPE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH INSTITUTION

LOCATION AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT INDIA

CAMPUS URBAN, 100 ACRES


HISTORY

IT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1961 AS AN AUTONOMOUS INSTITUTION BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA IN COLLABORATION WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF GUJARAT AND INDIAN INDUSTRY. DR. VIKRAM SARABHAI, A NOTED SCIENTIST AND INDUSTRIALIST AND OTHER AHMEDABAD BASED INDUSTRIALISTS SUCH AS KASTURBHAI LALBHAI PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN THE CREATION OF THE INSTITUTE.

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGNTHE CAMPUS OF IIMA IS DOMINATED BY THE BAKED BRICK STYLE FAVOURED BY THE ITS CHIEF ARCHITECT, THE FAMOUS LOUIS KAHN. ALL THE STRUCTURES ARE DESIGNED TO BE PART OF A WHOLE AND LOOKS ONE INTEGRAL WHOLE. OTHER ARCHITECTS WHO COLLABORATED ON THE CAMPUS INCLUDE THE RENOWNED B. V. DOSHI AND ANANT RAJE.


BEGINNING WITH THE OVERALL PLAN OF IIM, KAHN’S THINKING WAS THAT TO UNITE THE REQUIREMENTS:-•CLASSROOMS•OFFICES•LIBRARY•DINING HALL•DORMITORIES•FACULTY RESIDENCES•WORKERS’ HOUSING•MARKET

THE PREVIOUSLY FINALISED DESIGN FOR ERDMAN HALL RECENTLY DONE BY HIM BEFORE IIM INSPIRED HIM TO BASE HIS PLAN ON DIAGONALS, WITH LONG, INTERCONNECTED DORMITORIES BLOCK STRETCHING LIKE FINGERS FROM THE MAIN INSTRUCTIONAL BUILDING, ENDING AT THE EDGE OF A LAKE.


•ACROSS THE LAKE , HOUSES OF FACULTY WERE ARRANGED IN CLUSTERS.•THE DIAGONAL LAYOUT HAD THE PARTICULAR ADVANTAGE OF RESPONDING WELL TO THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE BUILDINGS BE ORIENTED TOWARDS THE SOUTH WESTERLY BREEZES.•KAHN SUB-DIVIDED THE DORMITORIES INTO 20 BEDROOM UNIT.•KAHN USED THE LOCAL BRICK WHICH HE FOUND WAS MORE EFFECTIVE IN ATTACHING THE SCHOOL DESIGN TO ITS INDIAN ENVIRONMENT.•ALTHOUGH HE HAD FREQUENTLY USED BRICK VENEER BEFORE BUT HE WAS COMMITED TO USED BRICK AS A STRUCTURAL MATERIAL IN AHMEDABAD AS HE COMPLETELY STUDIED ITS PROPERTIES AND ADMITTED THAT HIS ARCHED FORMS BORE WITNESS TO THE SINCERITY WITH BRICK.•THE BUILDING INCLUDES FREE STANDING LECTURE ROOMS AND BLOCKS OF FACULTY OFFICE WHICH STOOD ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF A GREAT CENTRAL COURTYARD, LINKED NOT BY CORRIDORS BUT BY SHADY WALKWAYS THAT OFFERED MANY PLACES TO STOP AND TALK.


•ACCORDING TO KAHN THE LIFE OF LEARNING AND SELF INSTRUCTION WAS ALSO INTEGRAL TO THE DESIGN OF THE RESIDENTIAL PART OF THE COMPLEX. FOR THIS HE CLOSLY LINKED THE DORMITORIES TO THE MAIN BUILDING SO THAT THE DORMITORY AND THE SCHOOL ARE REALLY ONE AND ARE ALSO THE PLACES WHERE PEOPLE CAN MEET.

VIEW SHOWING SHADY WALKWAY


•THIS THINKING GENERATED A WONDERFULY RICH ARRANGEMENT OF PUBLIC, SEMI PRIVATE AND PRIVATE SPACES IN AND AROUND THE 18 DORMITORY UNIT THAT GROUP ON TWO SIDE OF THE MAIN BUILDING.

•THE CORRIDORS , DUE TO ITS GREATER WIDTH COULD BE TRANSFORMED INTO CLASSROOMS FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF STUDENTS.THESE COULD BECOME THE PLACES WHERE BOY MEETS GIRL OR WHERE STUDENTS DISCUSSES THE WORK WITH FELLOW STUDENT. THUS PROVIDING PLACES OFFERING POSSIBILITIES IN SELF LEARNING.

VIEW SHOWING DORMITORIES


DORMITORY BLOCK•EACH FOUR STOREY DORMITORY BLOCK ACCOMODATED 20 PRIVATE ROOMS, ARRANGED ON THE TWO UPPER FLOORS AROUND TRIANGULAR LOUNGES OR TEA ROOMS THAT OPENED TO THE OUTSIDE THROUGH THE GIANT CIRCULAR PERFORATIONS.•KITCHEN AND TOILETS WERE CONTAINED WITHIN A SQUARE TOWER ATTACH TO THE LONG FACE OF THE OVERALL TRIANGULAR PLAN.•THE LOWER FLOORS WERE ENTIRELY DEVOTED TO COMMUNAL SPACE SERVING AS MEETING ROOMS FOR STUDENT ORGANISATION AND OTHER ACTIVITIES. •THE DORMITORIES HAD A NETWORK OF SMALL COURTYARD INTERCONNECTED BY PARTIALLY ENCLOSED GROUND FLOOR.


EXTERIOR VIEW OF DORMITORIES

VIEW OF DORMITORIES SHOWING COURTYARD


•THE 53 HOUSES WERE ARTICULATED BY KAHN’S COMPOSITE ORDER i.e. THE SYSTEM OF SHALLOW BRICK ARCHES AND CONCRETE TIE BEAMS THAT HE INVENTED FOR AHMEDABAD.•THE HOUSES POSSESED THE VARIETY OF WONDERFUL AMENTIES INCLUDING ENCLOSED UPPER FLOOR TERRACES AND A STAGGERED SITTING SCHEME THAT SEGREGATED EACH HOUSE FROM ITS NEIGHBOURS. DUE TO SHORTAGE OF FUNDS AND SLOWNESS IN WORK, RESPONSIBILITY WAS INCREASINGLY SHIFTED TO B.V. DOSHI AND ANANT RAJE, A YOUNGER ARCHITECT WHO WORKED ON THE PROJECT FOR A TIME IN KAHN’S PHILADELPHIA OFFICE. ON KAHN’S DEATH, RAJE DESIGNED THE DINING HALL, EXECUTIVE EDUCATION CENTRE AND MARRIED STUDENTS HOUSING, WHICH HAD BEEN LATER ADDITIONS TO THE PROGRAM.


VIEW OF FACULTY HOUSING

VIEW OF COURTYARD


VIEW OF STAIRCASE


SALK INSTITUTE


The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is an independent, non-profit, scientific research institute located in La Jolla, California. It was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine.

The Salk institute is composed of 2 groups of buildings sited on the edge of a magnificent cliff, with the Pacific Ocean falling behind in the horizon

The institute is housed in a complex designed by the firm of Louis Kahn.

Michael Duff of the Kahn firm was the supervising architect and a major design influence on the structure that consists of two symmetric buildings with a stream of water flowing in the middle of a courtyard that separates the two.

The buildings themselves have been designed to promote collaboration, and thus there are no walls separating laboratories on any floor.


There is one floor in the basement, and two above it on both sides.

The lighting fixtures have been designed to easily slide along rails on the roof, in tune with the collaborative and open philosophy of the Salk Institute's science.

According to A. Perez, the concrete was made with volcanic ash relying on the basis of ancient Roman concrete making techniques, and as a result gives off a warm, pinkish glow.

The 2 buildings are mirrored around an open plaza which forms a strong linear axis with the Pacific Ocean on one end and the entrance on the other, thus highlighting and framing the landscape rather than imposing itself on it.


THE STRUCTURE THAT CONSISTS OF TWO SYMMETRIC BUILDINGS WITH A STREAM OF WATER FLOWING IN THE MIDDLE OF A COURTYARD THAT SEPARATES THE TWO.


A diagonal wall allows each of the thirty-six scientists using the studies to have a view of the Pacific, and every study is fitted with a combination of operable sliding and fixed glass panels in teak wood frames.

Originally the design also included living quarters and a conference building, but they were never actually built.


In the courtyard is a citrus grove containing several orderly rows of lime trees.

The original grove contained orange and kumquat trees which were then replaced with lime trees in the 1995 grove refurbishment.


The plaza is stark (unpleasant or sharply cleared impossible to avoid), finished in travertine marble, without anything in it except a single small linear channel of water running down the centre.

Yet, it is complete, the simplicity being highlighted by the magnificent backdrop of the sky and the ocean with the seagulls fluttering in the distance.


The buildings are 6 floors in height with 3 levels housing the laboratories while the other 3 houses the services and utilities.

Each laboratory block has five study towers, with each tower containing four offices, except for those near the entrance to the court, which only contain two.

Kahn used concrete, teak, lead glass and steel as his material palette.

Made in exposed concrete, the walls are unfinished showing clearly the shuttering marks and also the tie rod holes.

The imperfections formed in the concrete surface during casting were left as such and were not covered up and finished, maintaining the integrity of the material.


Similarly, the teak & steel were also left unfinished to weather naturally over time.

The scientists tell that not only is the building beautiful, but it is functional as well.

It was one of the first buildings which he was really satisfied with, a place which was really spiritual.


Alfred Newton Richard’s research centre..


Alfred Newton Richard’s research centre..

The Richards Medical Research Laboratories, located on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., were designed by architect Louis Kahn.

It is a research institute for biomedical sciences.

It has Greek cross planning.

It is made in two segments.

It has clustared planning.


Each laboratory tower has eight floors, each of which is a 45 foot (13.5 m) square that is entirely free of stairs, elevators and internal support columns.

Each tower is supported by eight external columns that are attached to the four edges of each floor at "third-point" locations, the two points on each side that divide it into three equal parts.

That placement resulted in four column-free cantilevered corners on each floor, which Kahn filled with windows.

The support structure of these towers consists of pre-stressed concrete elements that were fabricated off-site and assembled on-site with a crane.

40PLAN


Attached to the sides of the laboratory towers are large vertical shafts, some of which hold exhaust ducts and some of which hold stairwells.

Attached to its wall farthest from the three laboratory towers are four large air intake shafts, each bringing air to one of four conditioning units on the tower's roof from a "nostril" near the ground, far away from the emissions at the tops of the exhaust shafts.

These shafts, the most striking aspect of the building's exterior, are made from cast-in-place concrete and clad with brick.

In contrast to the three laboratory towers, which have prominent windows and intricate structures that were assembled from prefabricated elements, the central tower of the Richards building, the one devoted to service functions, has few windows and a structure that is a single unit of cast-in-place concrete.


Three of those conditioning units provide fresh air for the three laboratory towers and the fourth serves the central service tower itself.

The Goddard building has the same basic design as Richards.

Its two laboratory towers and service tower (for stairs, elevators, etc.) are connected in a straight line to the westernmost tower of the Richards building


A research library is located in Goddard's upper floors with reading carrels that cantilever from the building's face.

The served spaces are the laboratories themselves. The servant spaces are the independently structured shafts for ventilation and stairways that are attached to the outside of the laboratory towers and also the two service towers , which house elevators, animal quarters, mechanical systems, and other auxiliary areas.

Kahn spoke critically of laboratories that were designed so that numbers on doors along a corridor are the only distinction between the scientists' main work areas and the areas for stairs, animal quarters and other services.


By placing service areas in separate structures, Kahn not only honored the services by giving them their own architectural presence but also enhanced the interior of the laboratory towers by removing obstructions from within.


Structure: In contrast to buildings in the style of International Modernism, which typically had structures of relatively light-weight steel frames that were often hidden behind glass walls, the laboratory towers have concrete structures that are clearly visible and openly depicted as bearing weight.

The structure was engineered by August Komendant, a pioneer in the use of pre-stressed concrete.

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Entry porch ceiling showing the building's support structure, which is composed of prefabricated concrete elements that were assembled like children's blocks.


The structure of the Richards building is composed of 1019 pre-stressed concrete columns, beams, trusses and related items that were trucked in from a factory, assembled with a crane like children's blocks, and locked into place with post-tensioning cables running in all three dimensions, something like an old-style toy that is floppy until its parts are pulled together tightly with a string.

In line with his belief that structure should be made visible, Kahn exposed these structural parts on the building's exterior and in the laboratory ceilings.

For the post-tensioning to be effective, the prefabricated concrete parts had to be precisely dimensioned and perfectly formed.

Louis i kahn

Education

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