An American Building DesignerVocabulary and Expressionsarchitect marbl

An American Building Designer
   Louis Kahn, who helped define modern architecture, is considered one of the most important American building designers of the twentieth century.
   Louis Kahn’s buildings have many influences. Some experts say his trip to Rome, Italy in 1951 influenced him the most. Kahn spent a few months as an architect with the American Academy in Rome. He also traveled through other parts of Italy, Greece and Egypt. There, he saw the ancient Greek and Roman ruins that also would influence his works. They helped influence him to develop an architecture that combines both modern and ancient designs. Other experts believe Kahn was also influenced by the factory buildings with large windows in Philadelphia, the place where he grew up. This industrial design is apparent in several of Kahn’s early works.
   One of Kahn’s important buildings is the Salk Institute, a research center in La Jolla, California. It was built in the 1960s. This structure further shows how Kahn was able to unite form and function, which means his buildings were beautiful and also useful. The Salk Institute has two structures that surround a marble garden area or courtyard. This outdoor marble area is almost completely bare. The only detail is a small stream of water running through the middle of the square towards the Pacific Ocean. This simple design is very striking. Inside the building are many rooms for laboratories. Kahn was very careful to make sure they all received natural light and a view of the ocean. He linked the indoor and outdoor spaces in a very beautiful way. He used sunlight and bodies of water to create a truly special building. Kahn once said "The building feels... that I had nothing to do with it... that some other hand did it. " The architect seems to say that he was helped by some higher influence, and that is why many people feel that his architecture has a very spiritual and timeless quality.