In the history of modern architecture, Louis I. Kahn is regarded as the undisputed master of monumentality in the United States. At the height of his career, Kahn managed to create a unique type of architecture, often awe-inspiring, but avoiding overdone grandiosity, expressing its constructive system, yet avoiding structural exhibitionism, steeped in history but developed with a new language and system of forms. His interest in light as a functional element and the specific qualities of materials extended beyond his buildings, in all the objects he created to populate them following their intrinsic spirit. To celebrate this legacy, Form Portfolios has now launched “Monumental Modernism,” the first collection of lighting, objects, and furniture modeled after those discovered in Louis I. Kahn’s buildings.
Despite being regarded as one of the last great Modernists, Kahn’s formation took place in a different paradigm. Under Paul Cret, he was trained in the Beaux-Arts system, becoming acquainted with classical compositions, axial organization, and hierarchy. The need for new forms of architecture was not denied, however, but newness did not cancel the lessons of history. Kahn also developed a sort of Rationalist attitude toward structures, in which he saw a hidden opportunity for poetry.
Structural ideas became showcased through the unique nature of the materials, the two aspects working together to directly display the elements themselves, the slabs, gutters, rails, and beams. Light plays off these materials, transforming walls into light-reflecting planes, and turning sharp shadows into compositional elements. The complementing furniture elements designed by Kahn continue the same ethos, expressing their materiality clearly, and employing deliberate geometric shapes and basic structural elements to strengthen the central meaning of the space.
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The Creative Process of the Four Pioneers of Modern ArchitectureIf I were to define architecture in a word, I would say that architecture is a thoughtful making of spaces. It is not filling prescriptions as clients want them filled. It is not fitting uses into dimensioned areas… It is a creating of spaces that evoke a feeling of use. Spaces which form themselves into a harmony good for the use to which the building is to be put. – Louis I. Kahn, cited in Modern Architecture Since 1900 by William J. R. Curtis
A certain spirituality is intrinsic to Kahn’s works, as his design process started with an intuitive concept that sought to discover those material shapes that would embody the central meaning of the institution it would house. This position rooted his aesthetic approach in the social values and the human implications of a work of architecture, favoring an intuitive reading of the space. His designs often reverse the roles of mass and void, figure and ground, giving equal attention to the in-between spaces as to the built forms.
In one of his most recognized projects, the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Sciences (1959-65) near San Diego, California, Kahn refused the simple analogy between science and innovation. Instead, he viewed the institution as a sort of modern monastery, a place for intellectual contemplation and retreat. Between the two rows of laboratories, a central open space opens towards the Pacific horizon. A sense of antiquity or of an archaic order defines the space, but this is achieved by modern means. Space, structure, materials, and light work together to create an abstract and almost spiritual image.
According to Curtis, it was Luis Barragan who convinced Kahn not to plant any trees in this central space, and to only work with the void itself. Low travertine benches offer the opportunity for contemplation without breaking up the space, while the shallow reflecting pool with a stream of water strengthens the axial composition and gives the air of ritual.
Designing furniture elements was not a new field for Kahn. Earlier in his career we he also turned his attention to individual pieces, such as the walnut and birch wood desk designed in 1949. The desire to design furniture that would suit the structural spaces, moving towards built-in elements. His design direction was also influenced by Anne Tyng, who joined his practice in 1945. Together, they collaborated on the Esherick House (1959-62) and the Erdman Hall. In the case of the first project, the window frames were thickened, transforming them into “furnished windows,” demonstrating a coherence between light and heavy elements that would continue to define the work of Louis Kahn.
Throughout the 20th century, most renowned architects have also stepped into the realm of interior design, producing pieces that are now recognized as pioneering furniture designs that continue to make an impression to this day. From Alvar Aalto’s Paimio Chair, to Marcel Breuer's Wassily Chair or Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair, and continuing with contemporary architects such as Foster + Partners, BIG, or Herzog & de Meuron who continue to make important contributions in furniture and light design, becoming a regular presence at international design fairs such as the Salone del Mobile in Milano.
