visit a building designed by Louis I. Kahn

Having been underwhelmed by the Kahn buildings in Philadelphia on my last trip back east, and overwhelmed by the prospect of a trip to Bangladesh, I made a point of visiting the Salk Institute in La Jolla while I was down in Southern California last weekend. The place is a true masterpiece, simple and austere at first glance but revealing the brilliance of its design as hours pass and the interplay of natural light with the building’s forms and negative spaces becomes complex, even surprising. Very, very worth it.

Then again… discount me…

I felt the Taj was a let down too, so don’t take my word on architecture. Maybe it’s just a by-product of anti Rand objectivism. Still, I just put ‘not worth it’ cuz it was less “yahoo” than ‘worth doing’. Let’s just say I’m indifferent, but yours not to reason why. I can see the inherent brilliance, but I wouldn’t travel just to see a Kahn. And that in spite of the fact that I’d travel for travel’s sake. But if you really want to judge me, don’t judge me on this… I don’t think much of baseball either. :-)

“Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view”
Pic is of IIM Ahmedabad.

While bumming around the Mid-Atlantic states last week, I crashed at a friend’s place on the U. Penn campus without even realizing that some Kahn buildings were nearby. The next day, at a coffee shop, I got online and mapped out the Kahn buildings I might visit while in Philadelphia and found out there were a couple on campus, within walking distance. First I stopped by the Florence and David Kaplan Memorial Wing of the Biology Services Building, which was hidden, small, and totally non-descript. Then I went over to the Richards Building and realized that it was one of the first buildings (perhaps the first building) featured in My Architect. Kahn’s son was pretty underwhelmed by it, as was I. The only thing remarkable about it is its homeliness. I’m not going to count any of the four Philly buildings I visited as completing this goal, because they were all pretty lame. Kahn may have been a genius, but evidently he had to make a lot of bread and butter buildings to pay the rent. Here’s a pic anyway (taken from behind the Richards building, a different perspective than that featured in the film).

I’m going to be hitting the east coast in June and I’ll have some time and a rental car. I’ll mostly be in the New York / Philly / D.C. areas but I’m willing to travel a bit to check this goal off my list. Can anyone recommend a great Kahn spot? I’m looking for advice like “that library in Boston is worth a few hours extra driving” or “beware that the private residence in Philly is currently owned by a shotgun-toting private property nut.”

During the summer two years ago, I visited Kahn’s Salk Institute in San Diego, and it’s incredible!

I also recommend watching “My Architect” if you haven’t already.

- viridiana.