Kahn, Louis Isadore (1901-1974)

US architect. A follower of Mies van der Rohe, he developed a classically romantic style, in which functional ‘servant’ areas such as stairwells and air ducts feature prominently, often as towerlike structures surrounding the main living and working, or ‘served’, areas. Khan's projects are characterized by an imaginative use of concrete and brick and include the Yale Art Gallery 1953, for which he gained instant renown, the Richards Medical Research Building, University of Pennsylvania, 1957-61, and the Centre for British Art and Studies, Yale University 1969-74.

Kahn was born at Osel, Estonia, and taken to the USA at the age of four. He taught at the Yale School of Architecture from 1947 and was an important influence on urban planning. He held many positions in planning, design and research, being associated with such bodies as the Philadelphia Planning Commission, Jersey Homesteads Cooperative and the US Housing Authority. It was not until he was in his 50s that his first major work was completed, being previously more concerned with theory. His designs include the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 1959-65, and the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas 1966-72, which is now seen as exemplary in its use and control of daylight in a gallery setting. His special approach to the problems of light control in buildings was evidenced in the design of the Capital Centre at Dacca, Bangladesh, 1964-72, and the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmahabad, 1963.