The exhibition Louis Kahn — The Power of Architecture is the first major retrospective of Kahn’s work in two decades. The exhibition encompasses an unprecedented and diverse range of architectural models, original drawings, photographs and films. All of Kahn’s important projects are extensively documented — from his early urban planning concepts and single-family houses to monumental late works such as the Roosevelt Memorial in New York City (1973/74), posthumously completed in October 2012.

The view of Kahn’s architectural oeuvre is augmented by a selection of watercolours, pastels and charcoal drawings created during his travels, which document his skill as an artist and illustrator. Highlights of the exhibition include a four-meter-high model of the spectacular City Tower designed for Philadelphia, as well as previously unpublished film footage shot by Nathanial Kahn, the son of Louis Kahn and director of the film ‘My Architect’. Interviews with architects such as Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Peter Zumthor and Sou Fujimoto underscore the current significance of Kahn’s work, which is being rediscovered and made accessible to a wide public audience with this exhibition.

“Louis Kahn: The Power of Architecture” is a comprehensive presentation of the classic works of a true master of architecture. Here, Taipei Fine Arts Museum revisits the form of the architectural retrospective, which it first explored in 2002 with “Le Corbusier: Morceaux Choisis, 1912-1965.” It further highlights the tradition of architectural exhibitions to which the museum has been dedicated for over a decade. Following in the footsteps of “Le Corbusier,” which introduced classic examples of Western architecture and ignited a passion for architectural exhibitions in Taiwan, TFAM went on to host “Archigram: Experimental Architecture 1961-74” (2007); a lecture by acclaimed architect Cecil Balmond (2007); “Toyo Ito: Generative Order” (2008), “Archilab: Collection du FRAC Centre” (2008); “Richard Rogers + Architects: From the House to the City” (2010); and “Glenn Murcutt: Architecture for Place” (2011). Viewed as a whole, the vision of architecture introduced by TFAM encompasses the modern and the contemporary, the classical and the avant-garde. For the past decade the ingenuity of TFAM’s architectural exhibitions has garnered widespread attention and opened fresh vistas, through the cross-disciplinary convergence of art and architecture.

This exhibition is curated by the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, in collaboration with the Architectural Archives of The University of Pennsylvania and the Netherlands Architecture Institute Rotterdam, (since January 2013) part of The New Institute. 

Global Sponsor  SWAROVSKI
Official Support  Ministry of Culture
Special Sponsor  DAHIN Development   Top Scene Advertising
Special Thanks to Goethe-Institut Taipei