Louis Kahn: an inspiration

In 1901 or 1902 (he wasn’t sure which) he was born on an island with his parents. They took a steam boat to Philadelphia When he was three years old he was fascinated by the fire and picked up the coals. He put the coals in his apron. He accidently caught himself on fire. His dad said that he should die. His mom said that we would be an amazing person. So they didn’t let him. Kids would call him Scarface so he waited until the last bell rang to go to school. His family was very poor, they couldn’t even afford pencils for him to draw with. But that was okay because you make charcoal by burning sticks in the backyard. He won a scholarship to the university, without the scholarship he wouldn’t of gone.
He was known as the philosopher of architects. Louis Kahn majored in drawing at the University of California. He then got his bachelors in 1924 for architecture. Although Kahn did architecture for a really long time Kahn did not find his distinctive architectural style until he was in his late fifties. He was known for his unique ability to create architecture that responded to the human scale very efficiently. He also helped create strong formal distinctions between “served” spaces and “servant” spaces (spaces that serve other spaces) . He mostly used brick and raw concrete. He worked closely with engineers and contractors on his buildings. Kahn’s work has played a vital role in the influence of contemporary architects of the 20th century.
He hadn’t found himself by the time that he was 50. Something that changed his life was in his fifties was when he was invited to tour the ancient ruins. This changed his life and he wanted to make buildings similar to this. I find him a very interesting, unethical architect that has done a lot for the world of architecture. I find him to have a varied degree of success versus some of the other architects’. He has three wives, which I found ridiculous. He actually got some prestigious cliental and built the buildings at the universities in which he taught in. I found this extremely respectable. Architecture has to have the element of time, Kahn definitely understood this. He made a built some buildings in la Jolla that are absolutely breathtaking and inspirational. There are very many spiritual things with this work. The buildings are not only beautiful, but they work very well. He had enormous trust in young people and just handed over the check book. He didn’t really mind how much it would cost as long as it was an efficient building. He was very willful; he didn’t want anything in his buildings to look like he didn’t want it there. If it looked like it didn’t belong there he didn’t suppress but he made more. Instead of trying to cover it up, he made more of it and owned it. He was very upfront and blunt and didn’t mind giving people a peace of mind. He was a heavy drinker.
Unfortunately, he died of a heart attack at New York cities Penn Station. His body wasn’t identified for three days and was placed into a New York City morgue. Catz, the person that Kahn traveled to India with, said that he did not look peaceful, but yet not like a dying man. Catz didn’t even know how he died.
Louis Kahn was an extremely believed in person. He was a ridiculous architect with huge dreams and always discontent with his work. (My Architect)

My Architect- a Sons Journey. Dir. Nathan Kahn. Perf. Nathan Kahn. DVD. MediaWorks Inc., 2003.