asevisual arts silence and light The Canadian Centre for Architecture exhibits the travel sketches of CAMERON SKENE fouls L Kahn, one of the most Dottie ict architecture, put his own ipproach to building. clearly Aesthetics come after you make ‘omething, not before." Applying also © the lose application ofthe several nodernist styles that make up his \poroach to pcture-maling, his travel etches on display at the Canadian centre for Architecture are evidence tat qualifying the importance of 2 ife's work isnt always where on the "ap of the historically linear it is, ‘aced Bor of immigrant parents from ston in 1901, Kahn's traning dur gh ert life in Philadelphia was in he visual arts and music. Kahn's Ife panned frm the time tht modernist influential American architect Louis I. Kahn. architecural language was just com: Ing Into mass acceptance inthe US to the beginning ofthe post-modern era at his death in the mid-70s. His Beaux-Arts traning kept him seeking archistorical precedents in the skele ton of past building forms, unlike ‘many of his contemporaries, who vere more contemptuous of links with the past and suspicious of monumen: tality, seeking a new vocabulary for building based on function By seeking out the forms of the ‘past and mingling them into the fabric ‘of the modern, Kahn mutated a more personalized, intuitive modernist lan ‘uage and erected exemplary public spaces based on the places of gather ing in the ancient world that became incorporated into the language of con- temporary architecture. Buildings such as The Salk Institute at La Joli, California and the Krbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas contributed a ruggedly emphasized mass. and sharply counterpointing light effets to modern building. His contribution to the immediate surroundings can be seen at the MMPA or the National Gallery in Ottawa, through his strong {nluence on Montreal architect Moshe Sale Kahn’s travel sketches span a period of time inthe US that witnessed the revolutionary development of mod- cemist language based on production and a new democratic social responsi: biliy for architecture. They also pune- ‘uate te parallel oad of contemporary art history, with a changeup in style that contrasts with his steady develop- iment as an architec. An accomplished draughtsman, Kalha'sivestigatios into the interplay of light and mass span a variety of movements, Cubistic watercolours done in Italy seek out the counter pointal rhythm of line and shape inherent in the classical scale villas, and enveloping mountains of that area, Contrasted to the abstracted, imensely coloured shapes that made up his Egyptian and Greek studies in the early 1950s, Kahn's awareness of ‘what his counterparts were up to in the visual ats makes for a compeling study of the nipling effects of succes- sive movemens of modem art on the related disciplines. Particularly noteworthy for this Aleblty of syle are his stuties ofthe Temple of Apolo in Greece and his ine studies of Nora Scotia and the Gaspésie, executed durng the Depression. ‘The pared-down studies of east erm Canada were done on 2 meagre budge tom a practice smarting fom the elects of the period, These int- mate renderings of coastline with dot ted vilages capture the essence of site with an economy of line and sponta- neous Fandling, Contrasting that with the solid monumentality of the Greek stuies, the harsh Mediterranean light notated by an intense colour contrast between stone and sk, the investiga tion of monumental mass foreshadows the bes of his publi spaces. Kahn's prolific use of the vocab- lary of modernism, both in the vsu- al arts and architecture, provided him with the tots to recombine past and present inorder o develop and contribute new and innovative forms to architecture. Taking his eue from the flurry ofa time, the drawings seem athe ongoing investigation ofthe Tet and the pleasure derived from their making An Architectural Odyssey «at the Canadian Contre Sor‘rchitecture To August 29 VOL! 1.NO, 27 @ MAY 27 — JUNE 2, 1993