1. ARCH 304
History of Architecture II
MODERNISM in the mid and late 20th century
Sofia Sebastian

2. Louis Kahn Richards Medical Research Building (1956)
Philadelphia
Create symmetrical, hierarchically arranged compositions
To produce monumentality, even in normal functions – render the normal buildings extraordinary and the extraordinary transcendent. .
Richards Medical Research Building (1956)
University of Pennsylvania .
Influential composition
Plan – a model of rationalism
Medical loboratories are square, open plan, glass walled spaces stacked into towers
Pairs of columns set on each side support the structural grid of each floor
While ducts, mechanical services, elevators and stairs are set in brick shafts

3. Louis Kahn Salk Institute for Biological Sciences (1965) California .
Lawn became a paved plaza
Between concrete faces of laboratory towers
Narrow linear stream of water leading to the ocean and the horizon .

4. Louis Kahn National assembly of Bangladesh, Dacca (1974) .
Ideal geometrical forms
Circles and squares
Expressed volumetrically as prisms
Grand interior .

5. Louis Kahn Philips Exeter Academy (1972) .
Used arch and vault – metaphor (symbol)
Square building dominated by the cubical volume at the center
Huge circular cutouts provide vistas into the library stacks
Individual study carrels surround the stack on each floor
Brick exterior .

6. Louis Kahn Kimbell Art Museum (1972) .
Used arch and vault – metaphor (symbol)
Apparently Barrel vaulted bays
Actually covered by a pair of cantilevers meeting at a continuous skylight
Natural light – rich spatial experience
16 units side by side in 3 ranks
Poured cast in site concrete
Travertine, oak wood, stainless steel .