Kahn’s Window

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7480/projectbaikal.59.1450

Published

2019-03-14

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Articles

Keywords:

Louis Kahn; window; intentionality in architecture; design ethics; metaphor; text in architecture

Abstract

This essay considers L. Kahn’s famous expression, his question addressed to his colleagues: “What does the window want to be?”. Kahn has a special status in architecture of the XXth century: he can be considered one of the most outstanding spokesmen for the century’s architectural self-consciousness, with all its striking visualization, toughness and inflexibility, as well as its hidden cunning, tendency towards manipulation and suggestion. The latter qualities are analyzed in the essay.