Travelling all the way from the Vitra Design Museum, a new show at London's Design Museum celebrates influential 20th century architect Louis Kahn (1901-1974), the great American known for his expert moulding of building forms and unparalleled use of light.
Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture is a thorough exploration of the visionary architect's work through a wealth of architectural models, original drawings, sketches, photographs and films; in fact the several clips on display, showing interviews with prominent contemporary architects - including Sou Fujimoto, Renzo Piano, Frank Gehry and Peter Zumthor, and Kahn's former collaborators, like Balkrishna Doshi - attest to Kahn's lasting global reach, weight and legacy.
Kahn's masterpieces are spread across the globe, from California, USA to Exeter, UK and Dhaka, Bangladesh. His buildings come in all shapes and scales, from the relatively bijou Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas - next to which a new addition by Renzo Piano opened last year - to the grand and iconic Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. His influences similarly range from historical references and ancient ruins, to more contemporary, modern work. Yet all his buildings share a sense of place and represent their creator's strive of perfection and architectural exploration.
The show looks at the prominent architect's rich body of work through several angles, arranged in broad themes and respective sections. 'Landscape' examines the architect's work in relation to nature and water, and the importance the environment had to his work; 'community' explores Kahn's approach to the social significance of architecture and to spatial hierarchies; and 'science' looks into Kahn's search for new forms in architecture. Other sections of the show highlight the architect's early life and travels, his approach towards the city and the house. The exhibition closes with the acclaimed Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park - posthumously completed in October 2012.
A rich program of events is planned around the show to last through its conclusion, while a separate film installation on show on the museum's second floor, created by Alice Masters and produced by Pete Collard, presents Kahn's work in a contemporary context.
The show explores the visionary architect's work through a wealth of architectural models, original drawings, sketches, photographs and films.
Sections such as 'landscape', 'science' and 'community' show his projects from different angles.
Colonnade on the north side of the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, Louis Kahn, 1966-72. © 2010 Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Wort.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, New York, 1973-2012, Louis Kahn. © Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, New York, 1973-2012, Louis Kahn.©
General Motors Pavilion, world exhibition 1964, New York (not realized).
Jewish Community Center, Ewing Township. © Louis I. Kahn Collection, Uni. of Pennsylvania & the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.
Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, Louis Kahn, 1965-72.©
Louis Kahn and employees in model-making, in the late 1960s. © Architectural Archives of the Uni. of Pennsylvania.
Medical Research and Biology Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Louis Kahn, 1957-65. © University of Pennyslvania
Louis Kahn in front of a model of the City Tower Project in an exhibition at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, February 1958.
Medical Research Building, Philadelphia. © Louis I. Kahn Collection, University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
Louis Kahn working on Fisher House design, 1961. © Louis I. Kahn Collection, University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Louis Khan, 1962-83
National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Louis Kahn, 1962–83.
National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Louis Kahn, 1962-83.
Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, Louis Kahn 1959–65. © The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania.
Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka (1962-1983). Collection of Gus or Fred Langford
Steven and Toby Korman House, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Louis Kahn, 1971-73.
The former assistant of Kahn Imtiaz Mia at the National Assembly building of Bangladesh in Dhaka. © Robert Richman
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, Louis Kahn, 1951-53.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conneticut, Louis Kahn, 1951-53. © Architectural Archives of the Uni. of Pennsylvania.
ADDRESS
The Design Museum
28 Shad Thames
London SE1 2YD
-
For its 24th edition, Triennale Milano's International Exhibition examines the theme of ‘Inequality’The design institution shines a light on events such as the Grenfell disaster, climate crises and the Israel-Hamas war through architecture, art, products, technology and data
-
Innovative coastal garden turns heads at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower ShowLandscape Designer Nigel Dunnett’s ‘Hospitalfield Arts Garden’ at Chelsea Flower Show 2025 has been making waves with its progressive approach to sustainable landscape and planting design
-
How does your garden glow? Lodes debuts outdoor lightingThe Venice-based lighting specialist launches high-performance but decorative outdoor lighting
-
The Yale Center for British Art, Louis Kahn’s final project, glows anew after a two-year closureAfter years of restoration, a modernist jewel and a treasure trove of British artwork can be seen in a whole new light
-
You’ll soon be able to get a sneak peek inside Peter Zumthor’s LACMA expansionBut you’ll still have to wait another year for the grand opening
-
NYC's The New Museum announces an OMA-designed extensionOMA partners including Rem Koolhas and Shohei Shigematsu are designing a new building for Manhattan's only dedicated contemporary art museum
-
Gulbenkian Foundation's new art centre by Kengo Kuma is light and invitingLisbon's Gulbenkian Foundation reveals its redesign and new contemporary art museum, Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM), by Kengo Kuma with landscape architects VDLA
-
A guide to Frank Gehry's architecture: mesmerising, expressive and sometimes controversialCanadian-American Frank Gehry has earned his position in the hall of fame of contemporary architects through a wealth of groundbreaking designs; here, we explore why, how, and his key buildings
-
National Portrait Gallery reopens its refreshed homeLondon’s National Portrait Gallery reopens with a design by leading architect Jamie Fobert and conservation specialist Purcell
-
The Museum of Amazonian Science offers global hope and sustainabilityAn environmentalist’s ambitious project includes the Museum of Amazonian Science in Brazil and fulfils his vision of powering up the local bioeconomy and saving humanity
-
Sydney Modern opens its doors and reveals immersive SANAA architectureSANAA’s Sydney Modern opens its doors to the public in Australia
