Louis Kahn. Continuity and Innovation

Louis Kahn: Continuity and Innovation offers a new approach to the work of one of the most influential figures of 20th-century architecture. The book’s view of Kahn is forward-looking: which of his ideas and concepts can today’s architects productively implement for timely designs that respond to the challenges of climate change and scarce resources?

The volume brings together voices from contemporary architectural practice. Their essays reflect on Kahn’s use of materials, light, and mass. They highlight that many of his design strategies remain relevant to current debates on durability, reuse, and socially engaged architecture. The book is illustrated with little-known material from ETH Zürich’s famous gta archive as well as with newly commissioned photographs of Louis Kahn’s buildings.

The book is rounded out with student design proposals for a Kahn Center in the architect’s native town of Kuressaare, on the Estonian island Saaremaa, that demonstrate how the next generation of architects is developing Kahn’s lasting legacy in their own designs.

(Also available in German.)