The sun never knew how great it was until it hit the side of a building.
Louis KahnRead
The first thing that an architect must do is to sense that every building you build is a world of its own, and that this world of its own serves an institution.
Interpretation
What this quote means
An architect should recognize that each building has its own unique identity and purpose.
In this quote, Louis Kahn emphasizes the importance of understanding the distinct character and function of each building created by an architect. He suggests that every structure is not just a physical space but a world that embodies its own values and serves its associated institution or community, highlighting the deeper relationship between architecture and the human experience.
Themes
ArchitectureBuildingDesignWorldInstitution
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech at a design conference, one might say, 'As Louis Kahn noted, every building is a world of its own that serves a unique purpose.'
More from Louis Kahn
All quotes →I sense a Threshold: Light to Silence, Silence to Light - an ambiance of inspiration, in which the desire to be, to express, crosses with the possible Light to Silence, Silence to Light crosses in the sanctuary of art.
Louis KahnRead
Greek architecture taught me that the column is where the light is not, and the space between is where the light is. It is a matter of no-light, light, no-light, light. A column and a column brings light between them. To make a column which grows out of the wall and which makes its own rhythm of no-light, light, no-light, light: that is the marvel of the artist.
Louis KahnRead
The room is the beginning of architecture.
Louis KahnRead
Architecture is the reaching out for the truth.
Louis KahnRead
The creation of art is not the fulfillment of a need but the creation of a need. The world never needed Beethoven's Fifth Symphony until he created it. Now we could not live without it.
Louis KahnRead
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