From order to design: the kósmos of Louis I. Kahn

Abstract

The research reported in this article sought to analyze the theoretical production of Louis I. Kahn from texts, interviews, and lectures transcriptions given by the architect from the 1950’s until his death in 1974. During this period, Kahn developed a series of concepts that gave theoretical support to his architectural production. Although extensive, the totality of Kahn’s production is dispersed and has never been organized in a holistic way. Moreover, the architect used to express his ideas using a poetic-metaphorical language, becoming a barrier to interpret and systematize his thoughts. So, in order to help interpreting Kahn’s thoughts, this research creates a global picture of the architect’s theoretical production, in which the main ideas presented in his writings are listed. There is now a set of sixteen centralities. These concepts are related and coherent to each other, pointing to a theoretical system created by the architect. To conclude, this research seeks to complete, in an interpretive way, the gaps left by the architect, systematizing his thinking in a coherent way.