名人轶事:Louis Khan Helped Define Modern Architecture(在线收听

Louis Khan Helped Define Modern Architecture

Written by Dana Demange

VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein with the VOA Special English program, People in

America. Today, we tell about Louis Kahn. He is considered one of the most

important American building designers of the twentieth century.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Louis Kahn helped define modern architecture. Architecture is the art and

science of designing and building structures such as houses, museums, and

office buildings. Kahn’s architecture has several defining qualities.

For example, Kahn was very interested in the look and feel of the materials he

used. He used brick and concrete in new and special ways. Kahn also paid

careful attention to the use of sunlight. He liked natural light to enter his

buildings through interesting kinds of windows and openings. Kahn’s work can

also be identified by his creative use of geometric shapes. Many of his

buildings use squares, circles and three sided shapes called triangles. 

VOICE TWO:

Louis Kahn was born in Estonia in nineteen-oh-one. When he was five years old

his family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even as a child, Louis Kahn

showed excellence as an artist. When he was in school his pictures won several

competitions organized by the city. In high school, Kahn studied architecture

briefly. He later went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied

architecture full time. He graduated in nineteen twenty-four.   

Louis Kahn’s buildings have many influences. Some experts say his trip to

Rome, Italy in nineteen fifty-one influenced him the most. Kahn spent a few

months as an architect with the American Academy in Rome. He also traveled

through other parts of Italy, Greece and Egypt. There, he saw the ancient

Greek and Roman ruins that also would influence his works. He was very

affected by the size and design of these ruins. They helped influence him to

develop an architecture that combines both modern and ancient designs.

Other experts believe Kahn was also influenced by the part of Philadelphia

where he grew up. There were many factory buildings with large windows. These

brick structures were very solid. This industrial design is apparent in

several of Kahn’s early works.

VOICE ONE:

Kahn’s first projects involved building housing in Philadelphia. He later

received government jobs to design housing during World War Two. In nineteen

forty-two, he became a head architect of the Public Building Administration.

Kahn’s first important project was the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven,

Connecticut in the early nineteen fifties. The outside of the building is very

simple. The surface is made of brick and limestone.

The inside of the gallery shows Kahn’s great artistic sense. For example, he

created a triangle-shaped walkway of steps that sits inside a rounded concrete

shell. This building was very popular. Its completion represented an important

step in Kahn’s professional life. He was now a famous architect.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Salk Institute in La Jolla, California   

One of Kahn’s other important buildings is the Salk Institute, a research

center in La Jolla, California. It was built in the nineteen sixties. This

structure further shows how Kahn was able to unite form and function. This

means his buildings were beautiful and also useful.

The Salk Institute has two structures that surround a marble garden area or

courtyard. This outdoor marble area is almost completely bare. The only detail

is a small stream of water running through the middle of the square towards

the Pacific Ocean. This simple design is very striking. Inside the building

are many rooms for laboratories. Kahn was very careful to make sure they all

received natural light and a view of the ocean. He linked the indoor and

outdoor spaces in a very beautiful way.

VOICE ONE:

Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas 

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is another famous building by

Louis Kahn. Some say it is his best. Kahn built this museum in the early

nineteen seventies. This large museum has long rooms with curved or vaulted

ceilings. Inside, all of the walls can be moved to best fit the art

collection. Kahn was able to make the concrete material of the building look

both solid and airy. He used sunlight and bodies of water to create a truly

special building.

Kahn once said this about the Kimbell Art Museum: “The building feels…that I

had nothing to do with it…that some other hand did it.”  The architect seems

to say that he was helped by some higher influence. Many people feel that his

architecture has a very spiritual and timeless quality.
Kahn mostly created public buildings such as museums and libraries. However,

he also designed a few houses. His most famous home is the Fisher house near

Philadelphia. It is made of several box- shaped buildings. The house is made

out of glass, wood and stone. Many windows provide a view of the nearby trees. #p#副标题#e#

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Dhaka National Assembly Building 

Louis Kahn also designed buildings in other countries, including India and

Bangladesh. His largest project was a series of buildings that would become

the government center of Dhaka, Bangladesh. This structure includes the

parliament, meeting rooms, offices, eating places and even a religious center.

This series of buildings looks like an ancient home for kings. Huge rounded

and box-like buildings have windows in the shape of circles and triangles. The

structure is surrounded by water. From a distance, it appears to float on a

lake. Khan spent the last twelve years of his life on the project. It was

completed in nineteen eighty-three, nine years after his death. Because of

Kahn, experts say, one of the poorest countries in the world has one of the

most beautiful public buildings on Earth.

All of Kahn’s buildings share a common solidity and heaviness. Experts say

they are very different from the works of other famous architects of the

period. These architects preferred light and airy buildings. Their weightless

-looking structures were mostly made of glass and metal. Kahn used stone and

concrete to make monumental buildings. Many of his structures look more

ancient than modern.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Louis Kahn was an artist who created beautiful works. But he was not a very

good businessman. He would change his designs many times. This would make each

project take a great deal of time and cost more money. The majority of the

projects he designed were never built. Also, he did not like to compromise his

design ideas to satisfy a buyer’s wishes. For this reason and others, Kahn

did not make many buildings. His design company did not always have many jobs

or much money. In fact, when Kahn died, he was in great debt. This is

especially unusual since he was considered one of the most important

architects in the world.

VOICE TWO:

My Architect Poster   

In two thousand four, Mister Kahn’s son, Nathaniel Kahn, made a film about

his father’s life. The film is called “My Architect”. It is interesting for

many reasons. “My Architect” gives a history of Kahn’s life. The film

presents the architect and his buildings. You can see Kahn working at his desk

and talking with his builders. You can also see him teaching university

students. You can tell that he had great energy. The film also shows a great

deal about Kahn’s private life. Kahn had a wife and daughter. But he also had

two other families. Kahn had a child with each of two other women that he was

not married to. In the film, Nathaniel Kahn describes visits from his father.

He says that as a child he did not understand why his father did not live with

him and his mother all of the time.

VOICE ONE:

Louis Kahn teaching at the University of Pannsylvania   

In “My Architect,” Nathaniel Kahn meets his father’s other children. They

talk about what it was like to have such a famous and hard-working father.

They also discuss what it was like having a father with so many family

secrets. Many questions are left unanswered about Kahn. Yet, the film helps

tell a very interesting story about a very important man. Louis Khan died in

nineteen seventy-four. Yet his influence lives on. While teaching at the

University of Pennsylvania, he trained many future builders. Some students

have become important architects. And Kahn’s architecture has remained fresh

and timeless.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Dana Demange. It was produced by Dana Demange and

Lawan Davis. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA

Special English.
  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/mrys/74293.html