A Brief Biography Of Louis Annadorne Kahn By Louis Isadore Kahn

Louis Isadore Kahn, born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky, had few buildings ever realized, but even so, he is often considered by many one of the greatest architects of the twentieth century. At the time of his death, Kahn was known by some as “America’s foremost living architect”. He was often noted for his use of materials such as brick and concrete masonry, and his development of a modern and monumental style which made use of simple platonic forms.
Kahn was born on February 20, 1901 in Kuressaare, Estonia. His parents had met in Riga, the capital of Latvia, while his Estonian father was on army leave. Kahn was the oldest of three children. His father, unable to find work and poor, moved to the US. In 1906 the rest of the family immigrated to the US to join him in Philadelphia after he found work.
When Kahn was three he became intrigued by the light being emitted by coals in the furnace, he put some in his apron but they caught fire and burned his face. After immigrating to the US he contracted scarlet fever, together with this and his earlier burns, he carried terrible scars on his face for the rest of his life. Because of the scarlet fever, he was too sick to go to school so he was taught at home. Eventually he did start school, but he was extremely shy. Despite this, he showed great gift in the music and arts areas and his teachers led him to take special courses for talented students in Philadelphia’s enlightenment education system (Kahn 5).
After taking a high school class in architectural history, Kahn won a scholarship at the University of Pennsylvania to study in architecture. At the University, Kahn was instructed by the inspiring French architect Paul Philippe Cret. Cret taught students in the Beaux Arts Architecture, a neoc...

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...d other officials had trouble identifying his body. His only source of ID on him, a passport, had it’s address crossed off. Because of the confusion of his identity, his family was not told of his death till two days later. Despite his architectural achievements and fame, at the time of his death, Kahn was in major debt. He had spent more money on his commissions than he was paid.
While he was alive, Kahn had received several awards such as the AIA Gold Medal- the American Institute of Architects highest reward, given “in recognition of a significant body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture (AIA RSS)."; and the RIBA Gold Medal- an award given for a multiple works, rather than one individual building or a currently fashionable architect, which must directly or indirectly promote the advancement of architecture (Royal Gold Medal).