Analysis of One of Louis Kahns Principle Works - Essay Example

Students name: Instructor’s name: Course: Date: АNАLYSIS ОF ОNЕ ОF LОUIS KАHN’S РRINСIРLЕ WОRKS Louis Khan is a contemporary architectural who brought a new perspective to the designs that he worked on. The architect incorporated style and design in the buildings he constructed. His signature was a huge circle that had a large square inscribed in it. The architect also focussed on the aspect of utilizing natural lighting in the buildings. He had the spirit of conservation of energy in the architectural designs that he came up with. Louis Khan challenged the pre-existing Roman designs that were common during his era. Louis Khan created awe shaking buildings that utilised affordable materials and they were shaped in an intricate manner. “Even a brick wants to be something’’1 is one of the quotes that inspired his great architectural acumen. When going through his designs 6 architectural buildings brought him to the epitome of his career. The buildings include; 1965-1972 Phillips Exeter Academy Library and Dining Hall, Exeter, New Hampshire,1951-1953 Yale University Art Gallery New Haven, Connecticut, 1962-1983 Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh 1973-2012 Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park Roosevelt Island, New York 1959-1965 Salk Institute for Biological Studies La Jolla, California and finally 1966-1972 Kimbell Art Museum Fort Worth, Texas. All this architectural master pieces will be analysed individually in the essay. Phillips Exeter Academy Library and Dining Hall, Exeter, New Hampshire The building was constructed from 1965-1972 the building was a school library for a private high school. The library was based on the aspect of accessibility and the utilization of the natural light. The students were expected to enter the library go to a central point where they would select a book and move to the windows where they would sit and enjoy their reading.2 The concept ensured that the electrical energy that could have been used to power up the building was conserved. Louis Khan divided the building into three facets; a huge entrance hall where the students could come into the building without creating traffic, an area where the students could get the books they wanted and return these that they did not need and finally the dining hall. The books are located in an area within the building to shelter it from the sunlight rays. The structure holds a total of 250,000 books in a structure that is called the concrete donut3. The core point of the building is surrounded by approximately 200 library carrels that are lit by the natural light. The library has sufficient space for movement and provides the user with a calm ambience that is suitable for studying. Yale University Art Gallery New Haven, Connecticut, 1962-1983 Louis Khan started his teaching career at the Yale University. He was commissioned to begin the expansion of the neo-Gothic building that was constructed within the University in the 1920 as an art gallery4. The structure had been left in complete. Louis Khan took up the task and came up with phenomenon design. The building makes use of the natural light through the use of glass in most places of the building. Kahn was inspired by the works of Richard Buckminster and he created a triangular structure that was a close resemblance to his work at the Yale University5. The building has a very large depth that is used for holding ventilation machinery and the electrical wiring. The building is exquisite and takes into account the mechanical aspect within its construction. Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh Dhaka, Bangladesh 1973-2012 Louis Kahn was given a task to construct a governmental complex by the government of Pakistan. The centre was to be constructed and used as the parliament for the country since it was to be located at a predetermined central region in Pakistan. The building was designed to allow the people using it to be able to access various locations with ease6. There is a plenary hall in the building that enables people to walk around. There is a Muslim Prayer hall that is located in the building, it does face mecca and is located to the south. The building has pathways allowing the people to walk around to their various destinations. Additionally, the building has 8 buildings. There is a V-shape in the building that does consist of a water point, residence halls and finally the office buildings. To prevent the building from being affected by the floods that is a common aspect in the country. A dig and mound technique was applied in the excavation of the soils and stones from the area of construction7. The building is spatial and has utilised the natural light in an immaculate manner that makes it a local attraction. Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park Roosevelt Island, New York 1959-1965 The four freedom park is located in a four acre plot of land. It does consist of a room and a garden that is located in the Roosevelt Island to its southern most area. The location provides one with a view of the United Nations Building. The northern area has the Queensboro Bridge in its view and trees that form a double path to the location8. The area has open spaces that are surrounded by 28 blocks of granite from North Carolina that weigh a total of 36 tons. There is a courtyard that is the central piece of the park that contains a bronze sculpted image of Roosevelt it was designed by Jo Davidson. Additionally, there are excerpts from Roosevelt’s speech that are imprinted on the wall. There is a Mount Airy Granite and hard granite that form the basis for the construction. Furthermore, Louis placed 120 little leaf lindens and 5 copper beech trees on the entrance of the building to create a vivid interactions between the structure and nature. At the southern most of the park there is a 12 by 60 foot terrace. He died holding the plans for the Freedom Park memorial centre at the Pennsylvanian station. The building was completed in 2012. Salk Institute for Biological Studies La Jolla, California1959-1965 The creation of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies was incorporation between the scientist Jonas Salk and the architect Louis Kahn. The building remains to have some sections that were never completed. The institute houses two laboratories that are located within its six floor structure. The structures have 40 feet long and25 feet wide. The court was designed with the towers that did face the area around the sea6. The service area is located in between the labs allowing a smooth transition from one region to another within the complex. There is a channel of water that pours into the pacific that bisects the building. The laboratory is constructed with travertine and reinforced concrete to provide the building with sufficient support. The laboratory has residential facilities that were designed with the idea of joining together of ruins around the laboratory8. The mechanical spaces located within the building are hidden by the concrete that does separate the served and the servant areas according to Louis Kahn. The laboratory has glasses that line the building allowing the flow of natural light. Kimbell Art Museum Fort Worth, Texas 1966-1967 In the design of the museum Louis Kahn incorporated the aid of two architects who focus on landscape design they are George E. Patton and Harriet Pattison. The plan underwent an evolution that culminated with a C-shape. The intricate pattern utilized a lot of creativity from the architects who brought the idea into fruition. The museum was created with a natural park theme that provides an interaction between the natural light and the natural habitat in a cohesive manner. The museum has 16 vaults that are parallel and all of them are 100 feet by 20 feet by 20 feet width. The vaults are separated from each other by channels that are low and they are grouped in the 3 wings of the building9. The south and northern wing have a total of six vaults and the western wing has portico that is open. There is a central place in the museum that has a porch that is opening to the courtyard. The ground floor has the service, curatorial and an art gallery. On the other the upper floor has a partial open art gallery that does utilize the natural light when ne is viewing the displays. The volts have an apex slot that separates them allowing the flow of light into the building. The area between the vaults houses the air ducts and electrical wiring of the building. The ends of the vaults have travertine that has been fine-tuned with the concrete block. The handrails are made of steel and they were blasted with ground pecan shells to give it a smooth finishing7. There are courtyards located in three distinctive places that bring in natural light to the gallery. The walkways have trees and sculptures that line its path that tend to culminate in the flowing water located in pools around the museum. Works Cited 1. "Louis Kahn: The Power Of Architecture". domusweb.it. N.p., 2016. Web. 17 Sept. 2016. 2. Fiederer, Luke. “A+U 538: Kimbell Art Museum – drawing collection.” http://www.archdaily.com/61288/ad-classics-salk-institute-louis-kahn 21 Nov. 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2016. 3. Goldhagen, Sarah Williams, and Louis I. Kahn. Louis Kahn's situated modernism. Yale University Press, 2001. 4. Heinz Ronner with Sharad Jhaveri and Alessandro Vasella. Louis I. Kahn : Complete Works 1935-74. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1977. ISBN 0-89158-648-2. xNA737.K32R66. p158, 159. — The definitive complete works of Louis Kahn, in one large Kahn-style volume. Birkhauser 1996 Edition, Available at Amazon.com 5. Helen Searing. New American Art Museums. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1982. ISBN 0-520-04896-2. plan drawing, p66. exterior photo, p67. 6. James Steele. Salk Institute : Louis I Kahn (Architecture in Detail) Phaidon Press Inc., September 1993. ISBN 0714829145. — Only 60 pages, but chock-full of pictures and drawings Available at Amazon.com 7. James, Kathleen. "Louis Kahn's Indian Institute of Management's Courtyard: Form versus Function." Journal of Architectural Education 49.1 (1995): 38-49. 8. James-Chakraborty, Kathleen (2004). "Our Architect" (PDF). The Exeter Bulletin. Phillips Exeter Academy (Spring): 25. 9. Kevin Matthews. The Great Buildings Collection on CD-ROM. Artifice, 2001. ISBN 0-9667098-4-5.— Available at Amazon.com Read More