Lecture: Robert Kahn
Architect Robert Kahn will deliver an online lecture titled The Architecture of James Stirling, presenting the work of the individual considered by many to be the greatest architect of the second half of the 20th century. Freed of the dogma of rejecting what came before, all of history—from the high to the vernacular—was his to use. Stirling’s gift was not simply to quote those sources but to manipulate them, void them of their original meaning, and intentionally misuse them in an effort to extend the modernist project. It is a view of Modernism that isn’t defined by “style” or ideology but rather by ideas and principles that extend from the ancient to the present day. His architecture is simultaneously serious and playful, classicist and modern. It is a collage of the old and the new, the ordinary and the canonical, in the pursuit of a practice that considers architecture as a form of art and ideas. Stirling was a modern mannerist and, as John Summerson called him, “Vitruvius Ludens,” the architect at play.
About Robert Kahn
Robert Kahn is a practicing architect based in New York City. He has taught design at Columbia University, Ohio State University, and Yale University, where he held the Davenport Chair Professorship. He recently taught a Theory of Architecture seminar at Washington University entitled “Hidden in Plain Sight: How to Read a Building.” In addition to his own work, Kahn collaborated on numerous projects with the artist Frank Stella.
Kahn is a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and received awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and NYCxDesign, among others. He was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Washington University’s School of Architecture, the Glassman Prize for Design Excellence, and the Alumni Award from Yale University. Kahn’s work has been featured in Architectural Digest, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, and Interior Design, among other publications and books.
Kahn’s clients include many from the creative arts, including Frank Stella, Wes Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Mary-Louise Parker, Billy Crudup, and David Mamet. Institutional clients include The Classic Stage Company and Lincoln Center theaters; Haverford College; and Columbia University. He was one of thirty-six international architects to design a house for “Houses at Sagaponack” in Sagaponack, New York.
Kahn is also the creator/editor of the City Secrets insider’s guides, which includes City Secrets Manhattan, City Secrets London, City Secrets Florence and Venice, City Secrets Rome, and City Secrets Paris, as well as City Secrets Movies and City Secrets Books.
View the Recording
Recording of Robert Kahn’s November 16 lecture, titled The Architecture of James Stirling.