- Title
- Timely timelessness: traditional proportions and modern practice in Kahn's Kimbell Museum
- Creator
- Fleming, Steven; Reynolds, Mark
- Relation
- Nexus Network Journal Vol. 8, Issue 1, p. 33-52
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00004-006-0003-0
- Publisher
- Birkhauser Basel - Springer Verlag
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2006
- Description
- The twentieth century witnessed declining interest in architectural proportioning systems, which were virtually eclipsed by technical, social and fiscal agendas. Louis Kahn is a seminal architect, whose most acclaimed building, the Kimbell Art Museum (1966–72), represents a compelling case-study in the use proportions by twentieth-century architects. In spite of a raft of peculiarly modern restrictions (both technological and programmatic), Kahn appears – despite his espoused ambivalence concerning proportion – to have intentionally produced a building with an array of approximate geometrical as well as precise harmonic proportions. This two-part paper presents the findings of a multifaceted research project that examined the Kimbell’s proportions from numerous standpoints. Part 1 presents a textural analysis of Kahn’s statements regarding proportion, as well as the findings of an archival study of correspondence between the architect and his client and consultants. Part 2 presents a prima facie geometrical analysis of the construction drawings for the project. The division into parts reflects an apparent discrepancy between Kahn’s buildings and what he had to say about them.
- Subject
- Louis Kahn; Kimball Art Museum; proportion; Modernism; geometric analysis; textural analysis
- Identifier
- uon:1100
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/26757
- Identifier
- ISSN:1522-4600
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