A Fascinating Life

Louis Kahn was a strange and influential figure who died just the way he lived - anonymously. At the same time, he was well-known around the world because of his endless love for nature and human existence. Imagine a world figure who still takes the bus to work because he loves the beauty of that 10 minute bus ride every day. The people, the sounds, and the sights.

Lou was a world-renowned architect, but he was really an artist at heart. He lived to create, and had a nasty habit of moving on to the next idea before the first one was completed. A true scatterbrain. Most artists can relate. I know I can.

Although Lou was brilliant at what he did, he didn't get a lot of work in his early years. He was in his 50s when he started his first company. Up until that point, he just didn't know what he wanted to do. He never turned down a project, and because of this, too many of his visions never saw the light of day. He died half a million dollars in debt.

Only one of his projects ever made him a profit: The Jonas Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. It still stands today, with its imperfections intact. Many of his works reflected himself in the design. Perhaps imperfect or flawed on the outside, but within those walls, a beautifully efficient use of space connecting humans with their surroundings.

In a true sign of his character, the building manager he hired to oversee the construction of the Salk was only 25. He simply handed the young man a chequebook and went on his way. He trusted young people, because he knew that he was highly capable at that age, only nobody gave him a chance.


Lou didn't measure his success in terms of dollars and cents. His greatest project was in one of the poorest countries int he world: The Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban (National Assembly Building) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Again, he lost money on the project, but he gained so much more. People in that town still bless his name and donned him with the title "Yogi".

Lou had no possessions, apart from a few books and his beloved bow ties. He lived in his office, sleeping on the floor or simply at his desk. He was always ready to pick up and leave at a moment's notice to go see a new client or give a lecture some obscure part of the world.


A nomad since his birth, Lou's immigrant family moved 17 times in their first 2 years in America. As a child, he was fascinated with fire and his curiosity branded him with 3rd degree burns to his face and hands from an accident with a coal stove. He was a short, skinny kid whose classmates teased him and called him 'scarface'. He was a loner and mostly stuck to his studies, eventually earning a degree in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

Lou fathered 3 children, one with his longtime wife, and 2 more with lovers, who he kept hidden from each other. When you travel as much as he did, I suppose it's possible to set up little satellite lives in various corners of the world. No possessions, so you can just pick up and move on whenever you want. His children all know each other, and do consider themselves family, although their 3 mothers would never speak to each other.

Lou died in a Penn Station mens' room after suffering a heart attack in 1974. Because of his nomadic ways, he had scratched out the address on his passport, so the authorities had a hard time notifying his family and friends of his death. Most of them learned of his death through the newspaper headlines. He died alone, on a dirty train station bathroom floor with no possessions and very little money in his pocket.

The reason I am writing about this person is because for one, it's an amazing story, and also, I identify with him. Lou was an artist in every sense of the word. He was prolific with the pencil, drawing everything he saw since his early childhood. He was a musician, although he claims he was better at composing. He had a great sense of humour, and when you asked him a question, you usually got a lecture in return. I'm definitely guilty of being a scatterbrain. I have more ideas than I know what to do with. I don't care about money or possessions, and I'd like to think that my creativity is alive and ever-growing. Who cares if I wind up broke? If I can create something that will still be around long after I die, then the world will know I was a success.

We can all learn from Louis Kahn. He put others before himself, he didn't know the meaning of the word 'greed', and he left a lasting legacy that has stood the test of time. He was not a religious man, he simply wanted to unite ALL people. You might not know it, but this man changed the world with his ideas, his designs and his relationships.


Quoting Louis Kahn:
"What was, has always been. What is has always been and what will be has always been. Such is the nature of the game."

A list of his works. Look how many were unbuilt.
http://www.design.upenn.edu/archives/majorcollections/kahn/likidxdate.html