Résumé

Draftsman, Hoffman and Henon Company, Architects, Philadelphia, PA, 07/1921-09/1921. The Hoffman-Henon Company was known for its over 100 theater designs, almost half of which were located in the Philadelphia area.

Draftsman, Hewitt and Ash, Architects, Philadelphia, PA, 06/1922-09/1922.

Senior Draftsman, City of Philadelphia, City Architect's Department, Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, Philadelphia, PA, 1924-1927. Kahn worked as Chief of Design for this exposition during 1925-1926.

Designer, Paul Cret, Architect, Philadelphia, PA, 1930-1932.

Founder / Director, Architectural Research Group, Philadelphia, PA, 1932-1933.

Design group head of housing studies, Philadelphia City Planning Commission and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Philadelphia, PA, 1934-1935.

Assitant Principal Architect, Kastner and Partner, Architects, Philadelphia, PA, 1935-1937.

Consulting Architect, Philadelphia Housing Authority, Philadelphia, PA, 1937.

Consulting Architect, United States Housing Authority, Philadelphia, PA, 1939.

Associate of George Howe, Architect, Philadelphia, PA, 1941-1942.

Associate of Howe and Oscar Stonorov, Architects, Philadelphia, PA, 1942-1943.

Associate of Oscar Stonorov, Architect, Philadelphia, PA, 1943-1948.

Consulting Architect, City of Philadelphia Planning Commission, Philadephia, PA, 1946-1952 and 1961-1962.

Consulting Architect, Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, Philadephia, PA, 1951-1954.

Teaching

Teaching Assistant, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Philadelphia, PA, 1923-1924.

Chief Critic in Architectural Design and Professor of Architecture, Yale University, School of Architecture, New Haven, CT, 1948-1957.

Albert Farwell Bemis Professor of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, 1956.

Professor of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Philadelphia, PA, 1957-1966.

Class of 1913 Visiting Lecturer, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 1961-1967.

Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Philadelphia, PA, 1966-1971.

Emeritus Professor, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Philadelphia, PA, 1971-1974.

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter.

Member, City of Philadelphia Art Commission, 1968.

Professional Awards

Recipient, American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter, Medal of Achievement, New York, NY, 1952.

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA), 1953.

Recipient, National Institute of Arts and Letters, Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize, New York, NY, 05/1960.

Recipient, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts, grant for the study of city planning, 02/1961.

Recipient, Philadelphia Art Alliance Medal for Achievement in Architecture, Philadephia, PA, 03/1962.

Recipient, Philadelphia Arts Festival Award, Philadephia, PA, 06/1962.

Member, National Institute of Arts and Letters (NIAL), New York, NY, 1964. This honorary organization was limited to 150 male members.

Recipient, Gold Medal of Achievement, Directors Club of Philadelphia, 1964.

Recipient, Politecnico di Milano, Honorary Doctorate, Milan, Italy, 1964;

Recipient, North Carolina State University (NCSU), School of Design, Honorary Doctorate in the Humanities, Raleigh, NC, 1964.

Recipient, Franklin Institute, Frank P. Brown Medal, Philadelphia, PA, 1964.

Recipient, Yale University, Honorary Doctorate of Arts, New Haven, CT, 06/1965.

Recipient, Danish Architectural Association, Medal of Honor, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1965.

Recipient, Philadelphia Sketch Club, Annual Award, Philadelphia, PA, 1966.

Honorary Member, Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, Stockholm, Sweden, 1966.

Recipient, LaSalle College, Honorary Doctorate of Laws, Philadelphia, PA, 1967.

Honorary Member, College of Architects, Peru, 1967.

Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, MA, 1968.

Recipient, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Baltimore, MD, 1968.

Recipient, American Institute of Architects (AIA), Philadelphia Chapter, Centennial Gold Medal, Philadelphia, PA, 1969.

Recipient, University of Connecticut, International Silver Medal, Storrs, CT, 1969.

Recipient, Bard College, Honorary Doctorate of Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, 1970.

Recipient, American Institute of Architects (AIA), New York Chapter, Gold Medal of Honor, New York, NY, 1970.

Fellow, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 1970.

Recipient, Philadelphia Award (aka the "Edward Bok Award,", Philadelphia, PA, 1970.

Recipient, American Institute of Architects (AIA), Gold Medal, Washington, DC, 1971.

Recipient, American Academy of Achievement, Golden Plate Award, Washington, DC, 1971.

Recipient, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1971.

Fellow, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA, 1971.

Recipient, Tulane University, Honorary Doctorate of Laws, New Orleans, LA, 1972.

Recipient, Brandeis University, Creative Arts Medal in Architecture, Waltham, MA, 1972.

Recipient, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Gold Medal, London, UK, 1972.

Member, Royal Institute of Architects, Ireland, 1972.

Member, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY, 1973.

Recipient, National Institute of Arts and Letters / American Academy of Arts and Letters, Gold Medal for Architecture, New York, NY, 05/1973. The 50-member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters was chosen from the larger National Institute of Arts and Letters. (See Grace Lichtenstein, Arts and Letters Awards Given; Women Promised Bigger Share," New York Times, 05/18/1973, p. 30.)

Recipient, Columbia University, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, New York, NY, 06/1974.

Recipient, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Furness Prize, Philadelphia, PA, (awarded posthumously), 1977.

Recipient, American Institute of Architects (AIA), Twenty-Five-Year Award for the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, Washington, DC, (awarded posthumously), 1979.

Recipient, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), Aga Khan Award for Architecture for the National Assembly Building, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh, (awarded posthumously), 1989.

Archives

Archival collections of documents by or about Louis I. Kahn can be found at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design Architectural Archives, Louis I. Kahn Collection (030), Architect, 1909-1974; Yale University Library's Louis I. Kahn Collection, MS 1345; University of Buffalo Library's William S. Huff Collection on Louis I. Kahn, MS-0139-0001; and 130 drawings at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY.

High School / College

Graduate, Central High School, Philadelphia, PA. c. 1920

Coursework, Graphic Sketch Club, Fleisher Memorial Art School, Philadelphia, PA. 1916-1920.

Coursework, Public Industrial Art School, Philadelphia, PA, 1916-1920.

Coursework, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 1912-1920.

B.Arch., University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Philadelphia, PA, 1920-1924.

Scholastic Awards

Recipient, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Prize, Philadelphia, PA, 1920.

Recipient, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, two Second Medals, 1924.

Recipient, University of Pennsylvania, Arthur Spayd Brooke Memorial Prize, Philadelphia, PA, 1924.

Relocation

Born in Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky in 1901 on Osel, an island off the coast of Estonia (then a part of the Russian Empire), Louis Kahn came to the USA in 1906, and became a naturalized citizen on 05/04/1915.

He resided at 5243 Chester Avenue in Philadelphia, PA on 02/16/1942. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Pennsylvania, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1254, accessed 04/24/2025.)

Kahn died on 03/17/1974 of a heart attack in the men's restroom at the new Penn Station in New York City. He had returned from a journey to Ahmedabad, India, where he designed the Indian Institute of Management.

Parents

His father was Leopold Kahn (b. Estonia, 1875), who came to the US in 1904; his mother: Bertha Mendelsohn Kahn (b. Latvia, 1878), arrived in the US in 1906 with children Louis, Sarah, and Oscar.

Spouse

Kahn wed Esther Virginia Israeli, 1930.

Children

He and Esther had a daughter, Sue Ann Kahn.

Biographical Notes

Kahn made a European grand tour during 1928 and 1929.

His World War II draft registration card listed Kahn as Caucasian with a light complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He stood 5-feet, 6-and-1/2-inches tall and weighed 150 pounds at age 40. This document also listed the following "obvious physical characteristics:" "A burn scar on each cheek and on the inside of each wrist." (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For Pennsylvania, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1254, accessed 04/24/2025.)

• Kingisepp, Saaremaa Estonia (Architect's Birth)
  Kingisepp, Saaremaa Estonia

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• Manhattan, New York, NY (Architect's Death)
  Manhattan, New York, NY

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  Kahn died of a heart attack at Pennsylvania Station, New York, NY;

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