Louis Kahn - The Power of Architecture

Louis Kahn (1901-1974), regarded as one of the great master builders of the Twentieth Century and has created buildings of such prodigious beauty and of such high regard. A shrewder, refined and striking exposé of the architect was offered in the film, My Architect. This was both written and directed by Kahn’s son, Nathaniel. Nathaniel tries to understand his father who was born in poverty, and died alone and bankrupt. This film would not exist if it wasn't for the mythic force of Kahn's architecture. In the film, Nathaniel travels across the globe, visiting his father’s creations and colleagues.

Kahn dared to be stupendous in a technocratic age. He invoked Egypt and Rome, and Nature and Light. He built with cylinders, vaults and pillars. All of which makes it a great idea for Vitra's Design Museum in London to show a major exhibition of his works.

The exhibition is encompassed of an unprecedented and diverse range of architectural models, original drawings, travel sketches, photographs and films. Each project is fully represented in this expedient exhibition, which seeks to bring one of the twentieth century’s greatest master builders to a whole new audience.

The sequencing of exhibits is confusing. It has a confined structure that assumes you already know the projects, but even if you do, it is sometimes hard to work out how a drawing connects to a model, connects to a photograph.

“Even a brick wants to be something. It aspires. Even a common, ordinary brick wants to be something more than it is… better than it is. That is what we must be." - Louis Kahn.