Research On The Lighting Design Of Louis Kahn’s Unbuilt Masterworks

This study delves into the architectural lighting design of renowned architect Louis Kahn,with a focus on the lighting design of his unbuilt architectural spaces.The research selects the American Consulate in Luanda,the Trenton Jewish Community Center Office Building,the Hurva Synagogue and the Memorial to the Six Million Jewish Martyrs as prototype cases for the study.The findings reveal Kahn’s innovative thinking and outstanding achievements in architectural lighting design,the relationship between light and architectural space shaping,and the formation process of Kahn’s unique understanding and manipulation techniques for architectural lighting.The paper begins by analyzing Kahn’s Jewish identity,his learning process in Philadelphia,his interest in geometry,and the influence of modernist theories of the1930 s and 1940 s on his architectural thought.It extends Kahn’s concept of "order" and its connection with the "Tao" in Taoist philosophy in lighting design,further revealing the profound connotations of Kahn’s design thought.In terms of case selection,the author follows the principles of authenticity,purposefulness,timeliness,and representativeness to screen Kahn’s unbuilt works.Based on the firsthand information of the selected four cases,a detailed analysis is conducted,showing how Kahn skillfully uses light to shape political,community,and religious spaces,endowing architectural spaces with unique meaning and emotional value.The research restores Kahn’s design process for these four projects,presents his thoughts on light,materials,and forms from his perspective,and explores the influence and inspiration of these unbuilt architectures as formal prototypes on Kahn’s subsequent designs.In the research process,the author excavates memories generated by Kahn during his travels,emphasizing his unique concept of light as a spatial material and memories of classicism and his stays in Italy,Egypt,and other places.Memory extraction is an important formation process of Kahn’s architectural lighting design,as these memories influence his choices of materials,forms,and overall spatial composition.Furthermore,Kahn’s concept of "order" and the "Tao" in Taoist philosophy are discussed and compared in the study,revealing the deep connotations of Kahn’s design thought.The findings indicate that Kahn’s theories and practical experience can still provide profound insights for a new generation of architects and researchers in contemporary architectural design practice.By studying and analyzing Kahn’s design ideas and methods,this paper offers a new perspective on the shaping of architectural spaces and the application of light,contributing to a better understanding of the interaction between architectural spaces and light and providing valuable references for future architectural design.In this study,architectural digital modeling techniques,as well as analysis methods using architectural lighting effect rendering,are employed,supplemented by other technical means,to visually restore the lighting design of unbuilt architecture,thereby providing innovative solutions for research in related fields.These methods contribute to understanding the complex light manipulation in Kahn’s architectural spaces and intuitively demonstrate the excellence of Kahn’s architectural lighting theory.In summary,this master’s thesis,through an in-depth study of the lighting design of typical unbuilt architectural spaces by Louis Kahn,reveals the close connection between light and architectural space shaping from Kahn’s perspective.The findings fully reflect Kahn’s innovative thinking and outstanding achievements in architectural lighting design,restore the formation process of Kahn’s architectural lighting theory,and provide theoretical and practical foundations for research and practice in the field of architectural lighting design.