February 7, 2008 – March 29, 2009

THE MAKING OF A ROOM: LOUIS KAHN FURNITURE AND INTERIORS

While numerous studies and exhibitions have explored the buildings of the master architect Louis Kahn, little attention has been given to his interior design and the furnishings he envisioned for them. Yet his drawings in the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania show his extensive consideration of the tenor and use of his interior spaces through a variety of concepts, schematics, studies, and presentation drawings for objects and the furnishings of particular buildings. Kahn did carefully detailed interiors and designed some freestanding furniture and modular systems, built-ins, and cabinetry as well as murals, lighting, and fixtures for public buildings. This exhibition of approximately seventy drawings will fit these works together to show what Kahn meant when he said: “Architecture begins with the making of a room.” Photographs of buildings and interiors, printed materials, and some of Kahn’s furniture will augment it. The exhibition is organized by George Marcus and the Department of Art History as a Halpern–Rogath Curatorial Seminar for the university’s Masters of Liberal Arts program, and in collaboration with the Architectural Archives.

Mikveh Israel Synagogue. Project 1961-1970
sketch of interior
Louis Isidore Kahn1901-1974