Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes is a new and personal reading of the architecture, teachings, and legacy of Louis I. Kahn from Per Olaf Fjeld’s perspective as a former student. The book explores Kahn’s life and work, offering a unique take on one of the twentieth century’s most important architects.
Kahn’s Nordic and European ties are emphasized in this study that also covers his early childhood in Estonia, his travels, and his relationships with other architects, including the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo.
The authors have gathered personal reflections, archival material, and other student work to offer insight into the wisdom that Kahn imparted to his students in his famous masterclass. Louis I. Kahn: The Nordic Latitudes addresses Kahn’s legacy both personally and in terms of the profession, documents a research trip the University of Pennsylvania’s Louis I. Kahn Collection, and confronts the affiliation of Kahn’s work with postmodernism.
Per Olaf Fjeld is professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. He was educated in the United States where he studied with Louis I. Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of Sverre Fehn: The Pattern of Thoughts. He has a studio practice in Oslo that he heads with his wife and coauthor Emily Randall Fjeld.
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction
NORDIC CONNECTIONS
1. Nordic Connections
THE MASTERCLASS
2. The Masterclass
3. My Masterclass Notebooks
4. Grounding the Vocabulary
THE WAY THE EARTH MOVES
5. Ten Years Later: Investigations into Mass
6. Ten Years Later: Encounters at the Kahn Collection
7. The Way the Earth Moves
Notes
Index
Begun in 2008, the collaborative publications venture between the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design and the University of Arkansas Press pursues projects that document and celebrate creative achievements in various forms of environmental design, design preservation, and design history. Projects tied to Arkansas are especially, but not exclusively, sought. The inaugural publication, a magisterial documentary DVD on the life and practice of Fay Jones, exemplifies our ambitions both in terms of subject and quality.
