Louis I. Kahn – Esherick House and Fisher House

64 p, ills colour & bw, 26 x 36 cm, pb, Japanese/English

The architecture of Louis I. Kahn is synonymous with monumental civic buildings, cultural institutions, and places of worship, and his buildings possess rigorous order. Yet from early in his career, the architect and urban planner designed houses that often share a common hierarchy with his larger works, regardless of size. This includes the Margaret Esherick House (1959–1961), located in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, and situated in an enclave of modest modern houses. Not far off, in a suburb of Philadelphia, is the Fisher House (1960–1967). In a gesture to the region’s vernacular architecture, it is clad in vertical strips of cypress set above a foundation of rough-cut stone.