Louis Kahn

Architecture American 1901 – 1974 97 quotes

An American architect, he was known for his monumental and spiritual designs, often using concrete and brick, and for his profound philosophical approach to architecture.

Quotes by Louis Kahn

A good building makes a city.

Lecture 1970

Architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of volumes brought together in light.

Book 1965

The void is as important as the form.

Interview 1973

Institutions are made by people.

Speech 1969

The door is the first thing we see when we enter a space.

Lecture 1971

Architecture begins where engineering ends.

Book 1959

I am inspired by the eternal.

Letter 1974

The plan is the generator.

Speech 1967

Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves.

Interview 1972

A building has a life of its own.

Lecture 1964

The essence of architecture is light and shadow.

Book 1970

We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.

Speech 1968

The column is the beginning of architecture.

Interview 1973

Architecture is the reaching out for the truth of a building.

Letter 1956

The sky is the beginning of architecture.

Lecture 1971

Every new material is a new beginning.

Book 1969

The heart is the beginning of life.

Speech 1974