Louis Isadore Kahn (1901-74)

Louis Isadore Kahn (1901-74)
Louis Isadore Kahn, Estonian-born US architect who acquired a considerable international reputation for his dramatic geometrical buildings and his talents as a teacher.

Born on the Estonian island of Osel, he immigrated to America with his family at the age of four and became a US citizen at the age fourteen.

After a traditional training as an architect at the University of Pennsylvania he became a pioneer of the modern international movement with a well established firm of US architects.

In 1948, he return to academic life, first as professor of architecture at Yale (1948-1957) and then at the University of Pennsylvania (1957-74).

His international reputation did not emerge until the 1950s with his Yale University Art Gallery (1951) and the University of Pennsylvania, Medical Research Building (1957-60).

His striking Salk Institute Laboratories (1959-65) in La Jolla, California, led to several commissions outside America.

The most important of these were the Institute of Management (1963-74) in Ahmadabad, India and the Assembly Building (1962-74) in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

By the 1970s his influence was reflected in the awards of Gold Medals by the American Institute of Architects in 1971 and the RIBA two years later.
Louis Isadore Kahn (1901-74)