Louis Kahn: On the Thoughtful Making of Spaces: The Dominican Motherhouse and a Modern Culture of Space

242 Pages·2010·51.061 MB·English

by  Michael Merrill

Michael Merrill
L O U I S KAHN
ON T H E T H O U G H T F U L
M A K I N G O F S P A C E S
THE DOMINICAN MOTHERHOUSE
AND A MODER .N CULTURE
OF SPACE
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Lars Muller Publishers
"I t h i n k that the most inspirational
point from which we might try
to understand architecture is to regard
the room, the simple room, as the
beginning of architecture."
LouisKahn,1972
LOUIS KAHN
ON THE THOUGHTFUL MAKING OF SPACES
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2022 with funding from
Kahle/ Austin Foundation
https ://archive .org/detai ls/lou iskah nonthoug0000merr
Michael Merrill
L O U I S KAHN
O N T H E T H O U G H T F U L
M A K I N G O F S P A C E S
T H E D O M I N I C A N M O T H E R H O U S E
A N D A M O D E R N C U L T U R E
O F S P A C E
Lars Muller Publishers

CONTENTS
Introduction
7
On the Value of Uncompleted Th ings
SECTION I
LOUIS KAHN AND THE DOMINICAN MOTHERHOUSE , 1965-1969
Prelude to a Project
15
Congregation, Program, and Architect
"Architecturing "
25
The Designs , April 1966-December 1968
SECTION II
ON THE NATURE OF SPACE , 1940-1974
Prelude to a Parad igm
115
Kahn , the Room , and the Beg inning of Architecture
Configuration , Movement, and Space
123
From " Circulat ion " to an "Arch itecture of Connection "
The Twi n Phenomena of Inside and Outside
145
" Dichotomous Things " or the Theme of Reciprocity
From Space to Place
179
From Establishing the Gene ral to Revealing the Specific
Epilogue
205
On Good Questions
Append ix
2 13
"Architecture d e a ls w ith spaces ,
t h e t h o u g h t f u l and mean in g ful m a kin g
"
f
spaces,
Q
Lou,sKahn,1973
I NTRODUCTION
ON THE VALUE OF UNCOMPLETED THINGS
Form is something mobile, something becoming, something passing.
The doctrine of formation is the doctrine of transformation.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, D,ary, 1796
The value of uncompleted things is very strong .... the spirit
If
is there and can be recorded, what is lost? The drawing is important,
the incomplete scheme is important, if it has a central gravitational
force which makes the arrangement not just an arrangement
but something which gives a richness to the associations which
are Jost. Recording of that which has not been done must be
made much of.
Lou,s Kahn, 1965
That which has not been built is not really lost. Once its value
is established, its demand for presence is undeniable. It is merely
waiting for the right circumstances.
Lou,s Kahn
Prologue: Philadelphia , 1965-1969: An Iconic Plan, Enigmatic Drawings
It had taken Louis Kahn a long time to master his craft, but considering
the forces at play this probably could not have been accomplished any
sooner. Now, with both the century and the architect in their mid-sixties,
his long-nurtured skill had reached full bloom. The recently completed
Richards Medical Research Laboratories (1957-64) and First Unitarian
Church (1959-63 *) had gained the attention of an international audience;
the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (1959-65)-his first fully mature
work-was nearing completion ; and career-crowning projects for the
Indian Institute of Management (1962-74) and the Capitol of East Paki
stan at Dhaka (1962-84) were steadily unfolding on his drawing boards ,
as accolades , assignments , and invitations poured into his office from
around the globe. In the midst of those prolific and expansive years, Kahn
was presented-separately and within the space of a few months- the
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1 Louis Kahn in his office, 1960
opportunity to design two monasteries: the Dominican Motherhouse
near Media, Pennsylvania (1965-69), and St. Andrew 's Benedictine Priory
in Valyermo, California (1965-67). For a man who had sown so
Figs. 2-3
much and reaped so little for much of his career, this must have seemed
like some kind of late restitution . How could he have not have been
thrilled at the chance? Accordingly, and in sp it e of all uncertainties , he
and his associates poured hours of thought onto reams of paper in what
1
would turn out to be months and years of des igning.
In spite of all efforts by the architects , both designs were destined to
join those other "unbuilt offerings " which make up such a large and im
portant part of Kahn 's oeuvre .2 Among the unrealized projects of that
later period, which include such seminal des igns as those for the Mikveh
Israel and Hurva Synagogues (1961-72 and 1967-74) , the Sa lk lnst itute 's
Meeting House (1959-65), or the Franklin D. Rooseve lt Memorial (1973-
74), the monasteries occupy a privileged yet enigmatic position in Kahn
literature. While both projects have been regularly published , it is par
ticularly the protagonist of this study, the Dom inican Motherhouse, with
its eccentric, shitting , and bricolage floor plan , which rarely fails to appear
in any comprehensive look at Kahn 's work , representing-depending on
the author's point of view-either the apotheosis of his thinking about
1 The proiect dales are given In the Louis I Kahn Collecl1on Architectural,\, chives of the l,r1vers1ty of Pennsylvania
(hereafter r !erred to as "Kahn Collection") as follows: St Andrev.'s Priory (cat no 15) earliest d te November
16, 1965 (Kahn had been contacted by St. And1ew's Priory a e:uly a 1961 and .,ccord1ng to a letter horn hrs off,cc
to the convent, seems lo have worked on 1t before March 1965. Let1er, David Wisdom to Mother Mar Emmanuel,
April 2, 1965, Box UK 10, Kahn Collection); date of contract May 19, 1 65, last dated drawing November 29. 1966,
ter1111nat1on of proIect: February 6, 1 67 Dom1n1can Motherhouse (cat no 700): earliest date March ?6, 1965: date
of contract: August 7, 19 7; last dated drnwrng: December 15, I 68; termination of proIect March 18. 1969
2 Th is rs Robert McCarter's term, see M Carter, Lows/. Kahn, p 443.
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