kahn

LIK LOUIS ISADORE KAHN

THE SUN NEVER KNEW HOW GREAT IT WAS UNTIL IT HIT THE SIDE OF BUILDING.

L.I.K.

- ANU GUPTA -APURVA RATNAPARKHI - PRUTHA BHUJBAL

• LOUIS KAHN (FEBRUARY 20TH 1901 – MARCH 17TH 1974) WAS ONE OF THE UNITED STATES' GREATEST 20TH CENTURY ARCHITECTS, KNOWN FOR COMBINING MODERNISM WITH THE WEIGHT AND DIGNITY OF ANCIENT MONUMENTS. • ESCHEWING THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE MODERNISM THAT CHARACTERIZED HIS EARLIER WORK, KAHN SOUGHT TO REDEFINE _BUILDING = HUMANS THE BASES OF ARCHITECTURE THROUGH A RE- EXAMINATION OF _ WILL TO BE STRUCTURE, FORM, SPACE, AND LIGHT.

PHYLOSOPHY

DESIRE TO BE WILL TO EXPRESS

• IN HIS PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY, FORM IS CONCEIVED AS FORMLESS AND UNMEASURABLE , A SPIRITUAL POWER COMMON TO ALL MANKIND. IT TRANSCENDS INDIVIDUAL THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND CONVENTIONS. • FORM CHARACTERIZES THE CONCEPTUAL ESSENCE OF ONE PROJECT FROM ANOTHER, AND THUS IT IS THE INITIAL STEP IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS. • THE UNION OF FORM AND DESIGN IS REALIZED IN THE FINAL PRODUCT, AND THE BUILDING'S SYMBOLIC MEANING IS ONCE AGAIN UNMEASURABLE.

KAHN'S STYLE • IS NOTABLE FOR HIS SIMPLE FORMS AND COMPOSITIONS • CHARACTERIZED BY POWERFUL MASSIVE FORMS • THROUGH THE USE OF BRICK & POURED IN PLACE CONCRETE MASONARY • HIS WORK INFUSED INTERNATIONAL STYLE WITH A HIGHLY PERSONAL TASTE, POETRY OF LIGHT & EXPOSING THE MATERIAL WITHOUT ALTERING

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, AHMEDABAD YEAR OF COMPLETION- 1963 CHEIF AR. - LOUIS I KAHN BUILDING - CONTEMPORARY STYLE

ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN THE CAMPUS OF IIMA IS DOMINATED BY THE BAKED BRICK STYLE FAVOURED BY THE ITS CHIEF ARCHITECT, THE FAMOUS LOUIS KAHN. ALL THE STRUCTURES ARE DESIGNED TO BE PART OF A WHOLE AND LOOKS ONE INTEGRAL WHOLE. OTHER ARCHITECTS WHO COLLABORATED ON THE CAMPUS INCLUDE THE RENOWNED B. V. DOSHI AND ANANT RAJE.

-BRICK HAS BEEN USED PRIMARY BUILDING MATERIAL FOR THE ENTIRE COMPLEX WALLS -BRICK ARCHES HAVE BEEN USED FOR WIDER SPANS -CONCRETE HAS BEEN RESTRICTED TO FLOOR SLABS ,FOUNDATIONS & TIES FOR ARCHES

-THE LARGE FACADE OMISSIONS ARE ABSTRCTED PATTERNS FOUND WITHIN THE INDIAN CULTURE THAT WERE POSITIONED TO ACT AS LIGHT WELLS & A NATURAL COOLING SYSTEM PROTECTING THE INTERIOR FROM INDIA'S HARSH CLIMATE.

SALK INSTITUTE

• THE SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES IS AN INDEPENDENT, NONPROFIT, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE • LOCATED IN LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA. IT WAS FOUNDED IN 1960 • BY JONAS SALK, THE DEVELOPER OF THE POLIO VACCINE.

• THE SALK INSTITUTE IS COMPOSED OF 2 GROUPS OF BUILDINGS • SITED ON THE EDGE OF A MAGNIFICENT CLIFF, WITH THE PACIFIC OCEAN FALLING BEHIND IN THE HORIZON • THE INSTITUTE IS HOUSED IN A COMPLEX DESIGNED BY THE FIRM OF LOUIS KAHN.

YET, IT IS COMPLETE, THE SIMPLICITY BEING HIGHLIGHTED BY THE MAGNIFICENT BACKDROP OF THE SKY AND THE OCEAN WITH THE SEAGULLS FLUTTERING IN THE DISTANCE.

THE BUILDINGS THEMSELVES HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO PROMOTE COLLABORATION, AND THUS THERE ARE NO WALLS SEPARATING LABORATORIES ON ANY FLOOR.

A DIAGONAL WALL ALLOWS EACH OF THE THIRTY-SIX SCIENTISTS USING THE STUDIES TO HAVE A VIEW OF THE PACIFIC, AND EVERY STUDY IS FITTED WITH A COMBINATION OF OPERABLE SLIDING AND FIXED GLASS PANELS IN TEAK WOODFRAMES.

THE STRUCTURE THAT CONSISTS OF TWO SYMMETRIC BUILDINGS WITH A STREAM OF WATER FLOWING IN THE MIDDLE OF A COURTYARD THAT SEPARATES THE TWO.

THE PLAZA IS STARK (UNPLEASANT OR SHARPLY CLEARED IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID), FINISHED IN TRAVERTINE MARBLE, WITHOUT ANYTHING IN IT EXCEPT A SINGLE SMALL LINEAR CHANNEL OF WATER RUNNING DOWN THE CENTRE.

THE LIGHTING FIXTURES HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO EASILY SLIDE ALONG RAILS ON THE ROOF, IN TUNE WITH THE COLLABORATIVE AND OPEN PHILOSOPHY OF THE SALK INSTITUTE'S SCIENCE.

THE CONCRETE WAS MADE WITH VOLCANIC ASH RELYING ON THE BASIS OF ANCIENT ROMAN CONCRETE MAKING TECHNIQUES, AND AS A RESULT GIVES OFF A WARM, PINKISH GLOW.

THE 2 BUILDINGS ARE MIRRORED AROUND AN OPEN PLAZA WHICH FORMS A STRONG LINEAR AXIS WITH THE PACIFIC OCEAN ON ONE END AND THE ENTRANCE ON THE OTHER, THUS HIGHLIGHTING AND FRAMING THE LANDSCAPE RATHER THAN IMPOSING ITSELF ON IT.

KAHN USED CONCRETE, TEAK, LEAD GLASS AND STEEL AS HIS MATERIAL PALETTE. MADE IN EXPOSED CONCRETE , THE WALLS ARE UNFINISHED SHOWING CLEARLY THE SHUTTERING MARKS AND ALSO THE TIE ROD HOLES.

THE SCIENTISTS TELL THAT NOT ONLY IS THE BUILDING BEAUTIFUL, BUT IT IS FUNCTIONAL AS WELL. IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST BUILDINGS WHICH HE WAS REALLY SATISFIED WITH, A PLACE WHICH WAS REALLY SPIRITUAL.

THE IMPERFECTIONS FORMED IN THE CONCRETE SURFACE DURING CASTING WERE LEFT AS SUCH AND WERE NOT COVERED UP AND FINISHED, MAINTAINING THE INTEGRITY OF THE MATERIAL.

Thank you .