The secret life of architectural genius Louis Kahn
Features: DVD
A riveting tale of love, art, betrayal and forgiveness--in which the illegitimate son of a legendary architect undertakes a worldwide exploration to discover and understand his father's work and the personal choices he made.Louis I. Kahn is considered by many historians to have been the most important architect of the second half of the twentieth century. While Kahn's artistic legacy was a search for truth and clarity, his personal life was secretive and chaotic. His mysterious death in a train station men's room left behind three families--one with his wife and two with women with whom he had long-term affairs. The child of one of these extra-marital relationships, Kahn's only son Nathaniel, sets out on a journey to reconcile the life and work of this mysterious man. Revealing the haunting beauty of his father's monumental creations and taking us to the rarified heights of the worldÞs most celebrated architects and deep within his own divided family, Nathaniel's personal journey becomes a universal investigation of identity, a celebration of art and ultimately, of life itself.
Editor's Note
Fast-motion footage of clouds passing and daylight shifting over architect Louis I. Kahn's most famous buildings shows the true beauty of his monumental work. Designer of the Salk Institute, the Exeter Library, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Capital Complex of Bangladesh, Kahn dedicated his life to his work, and kept his personal life private. Filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn should know, as he is the artist's illegitimate son, who was 11 years old at the time his father died. Nathaniel made the movie to get to know his father better, and to come to terms with the shocking way that he died--of a heart attack, all alone, in the men's room in New York City's Penn Station. Interviews with such impressive architects as Philip Johnson, I.M. Pei, Frank Gehry, and Robert A. M. Stern give testament to the impact that Kahn made with his work. And touching but tense interviews with Kahn's mistresses--one of whom is the director's mother--shed light on the architect's misgivings in his family life. Music by Neil Young adds poignancy to Nathaniel's story of the famous father he barely knew, and archival footage of Kahn walking through the streets of Philadelphia, working in his office, or teaching graduate classes; brings the architect's legend to life.
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