Kahn’s Window

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.