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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

The Role of Geometry in the Architecture of Louis Kahn and Anne Tyng

Author : Cristina Càndito

Published in: Faces of Geometry. From Agnesi to Mirzakhani

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Among the salient features of the architecture of Louis I. Kahn, one recognizes the ability to reconcile the aesthetics of Modernism with monumentality and one of the elements used to implement this programmatic attitude is Geometry. In this regard, we cite the projects for the Trenton Bath House (1955–1956) and the unrealized Philadelphia City Tower (1952–1957), which are today attributed in the geometric conception to Kahn’s collaborator, Anne Griswold Tyng. Her production of concepts of unrealized projects is less known, among which the one for the General Motors Exhibit 1964 (1960–1961), which adopted particular geometric figures, showing not only her knowledge, but also her ability to manipulate regular and semi-regular polyhedra. Tyng was also interested in women role in the culture and she expressed in her most appropriate form—the geometrical schemes in her texts written in 1989 and 1997—her own theory about the evolution of the woman’s role towards an autonomous creative expression.

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Literature
1.
go back to reference Brownlee DB, De Long DG (1991) Louis I. Kahn in the realm of architecture. New York: Rizzoli, p. 448. ISBN 0847813304 Brownlee DB, De Long DG (1991) Louis I. Kahn in the realm of architecture. New York: Rizzoli, p. 448. ISBN 0847813304
2.
go back to reference Cummings LP (1991) Louis I. Kahn: i musei, Milano: Electa, p. 292. ISBN 9788843535729 Cummings LP (1991) Louis I. Kahn: i musei, Milano: Electa, p. 292. ISBN 9788843535729
4.
go back to reference Kahn Louis I (1953) Toward a plan for midtown Philadelphia. Perspecta 2:10–27CrossRef Kahn Louis I (1953) Toward a plan for midtown Philadelphia. Perspecta 2:10–27CrossRef
5.
go back to reference Kries M, Eisenbrand J, Von Moos S (2013) Louis Kahn. The Power of Architecture. Weil am Rhein, Vitra Design, p. 370. ISBN 9783931936921 Kries M, Eisenbrand J, Von Moos S (2013) Louis Kahn. The Power of Architecture. Weil am Rhein, Vitra Design, p. 370. ISBN 9783931936921
6.
go back to reference Tyng A (1969) Geometric extension of consciousness. Zodiac, 19 Tyng A (1969) Geometric extension of consciousness. Zodiac, 19
7.
go back to reference Tyng A (1989) From Muse to heroine, toward a visible creative identity. In Berkeley EP, McQuaid M, Architecture: a place for women. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989, pp. 171–186. ISBN 9780874742312 Tyng A (1989) From Muse to heroine, toward a visible creative identity. In Berkeley EP, McQuaid M, Architecture: a place for women. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989, pp. 171–186. ISBN 9780874742312
8.
go back to reference Tyng A (1997) Louis Kahn to Anne Tyng: the Rome letters 1953–1954, New York: Rizzoli, p. 216. ISBN 9780847820092 Tyng A (1997) Louis Kahn to Anne Tyng: the Rome letters 1953–1954, New York: Rizzoli, p. 216. ISBN 9780847820092
9.
go back to reference Tyng A, Imperiale A, Sabin JE, Schaffner I (2011) Inhabiting geometry. Institute of Contemporary Art, p. 112. ISBN 9780884541219 Tyng A, Imperiale A, Sabin JE, Schaffner I (2011) Inhabiting geometry. Institute of Contemporary Art, p. 112. ISBN 9780884541219
Metadata
Title
The Role of Geometry in the Architecture of Louis Kahn and Anne Tyng
Author
Cristina Càndito
Copyright Year
2020
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29796-1_5

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