the room is in the place of mind

a richness of place, full of availabilities

in a small room, louis kahn.

brian (another visitor!) and i weaved in and out of u city today. my favorite part was showing him some of the strange pregnant houses, and the half and half houses of the area. and then to top it off we saw a small louis kahn exhibit at upenn. his drawings are really amazing. it is striking to me because his use of light and form is very impressionistic which seems to negate the conventional stylization of architecture drawings. and the text was really amazing. he had these great ideas about how space ought to be created and used, how a room is not a room without natural light, how the merging of rooms is significant because those shared entrances are where people also converged... and how he hopes to change the human interaction from an event to performance. he is concerned w the intended use of the building, of the 'human institution' it is meant to serve- to inspire learning, meeting, and well-being. he emphasized the influence and expression of a room. he used the example of what one would say in a small room would not be the same as what would one say in a large room. i was really amazed.