(Collection 030) Louis I. Kahn, 1901-1974 A Finding Aid for Architectural Records and Personal Papers, ca. 1908-1984: Series II, Project and Office Records, in The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania © 2004 The Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved. The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Finding Aid for Louis I. Kahn Collection 030.II Archival Description Descriptive Summary Title: Architectural Records and Personal Papers, ca. 1908-1984: Series II, Project and Office Records. Coll. ID: 030.II Origin: Louis I. Kahn, 1901-1974, architect. Extent: 148 cubic feet. Repository: The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania 102 Meyerson Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6311 (215) 898-8323 Abstract: This finding aid applies only to Series II, Project and Office Records. This series also contains professional correspondence interfiled. Dates range from 1935 to 1984. Indexes: This collection is included in the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project, a searchable database of architectural research materials related to architects and architecture in Philadelphia and surrounding regions: http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org Cataloging: Series-level records for materials in Louis I. Kahn Collection 030 may be found in RLIN Eureka, the union catalogue of members of the Research Libraries Group. The record number for this series is PAUP04-A2. 2 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Finding Aid for Louis I. Kahn Collection 030.II Biographical/Historical Sketch Louis I. Kahn was born in Estonia and raised in Philadelphia. He was trained in architecture in the Beaux-Arts tradition at the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Philippe Cret. As a mature architect, Kahn was distinguished from his contempories by his unique personal philosophy of architecture. His style is marked by a profound sense of history and pure geometry in design and by the texture of materials in construction. His legacy is as much in his teaching and his unbuilt designs as in his major built works. He lectured and wrote on architecture beginning in the 1930s. He taught at Yale University (1947-1955) and was Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1956 until his death. Kahn's major built works include: Yale University Art Gallery; Alfred Newton Richards Medical Research Building, University of Pennsylvania; Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California; First Unitarian Church and School, Rochester, New York; Performing Arts Theater, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Eleanor Donnelley Erdman Hall, Bryn Mawr College; Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India; Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas; Yale Center for British Art. When Kahn died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1974, two of his most important works, the Yale Center for British Art and the national capital of Bangladesh at Dhaka, were still under construction. After his death, his office was closed, but his former associates completed, when possible, the projects under construction. Scope and Content Note Louis I. Kahn Collection 030 comprises drawings, office files, models, photographs, audiovisual materials and personal materials. This finding aid applies only to Series II, Project and Office Records, within Collection 030. The Louis I. Kahn Collections comprise the entire professional archive of Louis I. Kahn, with the addition of personal materials. After Kahn's death, his estate faced substantial financial obligations, and the decision was made to liquidate the assets of the firm. The entire archive was purchased in 1976 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) and was placed on permanent loan to the University of Pennsylvania the following year. The trustees of the University assumed responsibility for making the collection available for scholarly research, exhibit and publishing. After the projects still under construction at Kahn's death were brought to completion, documentation for those projects was donated to the Architectural Archives by Kahn's former associates. Personal materials were donated to the Architectural Archives by family and friends. Additional materials continue to be received. Materials in this series were transferred to the Architectural Archives from Kahn's office in boxes marked to indicate contents. "P" indicated groups of files related to specific projects. "F" or "LG" indicated financial records. A substantial number of boxes contained general files and did not bear a letter. A typed list was prepared in the Architectural Archives and served as the finding aid for a 3 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Finding Aid for Louis I. Kahn Collection 030.II generation of scholars. The original storage boxes were numbered LIK 1, LIK 2, etc. in the order received, and the box title and file titles were listed for each box. File folders were not numbered. LIK box 1 through LIK box 53 (marked "P") contain project files. LIK box 54 through LIK box 69 contain general files which include professional and personal correspondence and other documents interfiled with business and project correspondence. LIK box 70 through LIK box 101 (marked "F") and LIK box 102 through LIK box 104 (marked "LG") contain financial records, including payroll, billing, expenses, etc. As Kahn's business finances were interconnected with his personal finances, these files contain some materials related to his and his wife's personal finances. LIK box 105 through LIK box 115 contain mixed materials. LIK box 116 through LIK box 143 have been identified as files received from other sources and are not included in Collection 030 (or in this finding aid). Processing notes The Architectural Archives gratefully acknowledges a generous grant from PHMC in 2004 which has permitted Archives staff to rehouse Series II in acid free folders and boxes. Because these files have been extensively studied and cited in scholarly publication, the files were restored to the order received, as recorded in the typed box list described above. The original box labels have been photocopied on acid free paper. Box titles and folder titles have been newly transcribed from the original boxes and folders and are found in the Container List. The materials are divided into subseries corresponding to LIK box numbers, and each folder has been assigned a unique call number which incorporates the LIK box number. Assume, for example, that a folder titled "O.U.I. Correspondence General" was cited in publication as in LIK box 8. This folder may be found in Subseries A.8. It is the twenty-fourth folder in that subseries and bears the call number 030.II.A.8.24. General files (LIK box 54 through LIK box 69) have been identified as important materials which should be made more accessible to scholars. These files have been more intensively processed, removing damaging fastners and photocopying newsprint on acid free paper. At the time of publication of this finding aid, a name index is in preparation, limited to names found in folder titles in this group of general files. Materials which cannot be stored flat in file folders have been moved to an Oversize section of this series. For the most part, drawings and photographs found in Series II have been moved to another series of this collection. 4 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Finding Aid for Louis I. Kahn Collection 030.II Series Overview Series II, Office Files, stands in a larger collection arranged in nine series: I. Architectural Drawings. II. Project and Office Records A. LIK Boxes B. Oversized materials III. Architectural Models. IV. Photoprints, Color Transparencies & Negatives. V. Slides (35mm). VI. Audiovisual materials VII. Sketchbooks VIII. Clippings IX. Personal Papers Kahn's office did not use job numbers; each project in this collection is associated with a job number assigned by Julia Moore Converse. A full index to projects represented in the entire collection is in preparation. 5 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Finding Aid for Louis I. Kahn Collection 030.II Access Points for Indexing Kahn, Louis I., 1901-1974 Administrative Information Restrictions on access: This collection is available for research by appointment only. Preferred citation: Louis I. Kahn Collection, University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Acquisition: Permanent loan: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1977. Gifts: Various donors. Processing: The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission provided grant funding in 2004 to process and rehouse materials in this collection, including Series II. This series was processed by William Whitaker, Laura Stroffolino and Nancy Thorne with the assistance of Harry Kim, Jane Kim, Rebecca Labov, Andrew Schlatter, Richard Scully, Anny Su, Evangeline Thorp and Clara Wong. 6 The Architectural Archives, University of Pennsylvania Finding Aid for Louis I. Kahn Collection 030.II Container list Series II. Project and Office Records. A. LIK Boxes 1. P-1, Bicentennial, Phillips Exeter Academy Call# Descriptive Title 030.II.A.1.1 Olivetti A Contemporary Image of Style and Industry 030.II.A.1.2 Drawing Index, new file 6/20/86 RH 030.II.A.1.3 Bulletin #1 to Rough Grading Issued 5/10/67 w/SD-2 030.II.A.1.4 Specification 14 June ‘67 O.U.I. 030.II.A.1.5