Louis I. Kahn - FISHER HOUSE

[Andrew B]

Architect: Louis I. Kahn
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date: 1960


"The house is located on a site which slopes gently down from a main road to small stream. It consists of three cubes, two large ones connected together and a small, separate one. These cubes, together with the existing trees, form two inter-connected outdoor spaces: an entrance court and a kitchen court.Two large cubes, connected diagonally, contain two distinct groups of activities. The first cube contains an entrance lobby and the master bedroom suite with dressing room and bathroom on the first floor and two smaller bedrooms on the second floor. The second cube is connected by a large opening to the entrance lobby. The two-story-high first floor contains the kitchen, and the living areas separated by a free-standing stone fireplace."

— from Heinz Ronner, with Sharad Jhaveri and Alessandro Vasella Louis I. Kahn: Complete Works 1935-74. p181.

[Andrew B]

This photgraph shows the two story living area.

[Andrew B]

There was not much info availible in creating this model, so I did my best based on a couple of old floor plans and photos. Later I found more credible information and used it to create and updated model which can be found near the end of the thread.

[WilsonMetry]

Andrew,
Good study model. Is there any upper floor area in, what I assume is, the kitchen area? Maybe storage?

Also, it looks to me like there are huge drop down shutters over the windows or most of the windows. Take a look at the first picture....wonder how those work? Ropes and pulleys? Doesn't it look like the windows are covered?

Anyway, it looks like the hearth room gets really good light and would be cozy. And there are lots of bedrooms, looks like the bedroom wing of the typical 1970's American split entry. I love the window placement and their shapes.

Overall the composition is quite arbitrary and volumetrically very simple. It must have been a quickie for him.

[Andrew B]

Wilson,
I probably should have explained in my post, but, it appears as though the entire right rectangle, or kitchen and living areas, is open two stories. The left, which is comprised of a first floor master bed and two second story bedrooms, uses two levels. I hope to get my hands on a good site plan. It really looks like an interesting layout when viewed in that context.

As for the shutters, I am not sure if they are there or how they oprerate. North is to the upper left of the plans. It would be logical for these covered windows to exist on the southern faces, however, the photos show that the southerly windows are uncovered. I will look into this one more once I get to the library later this week.

As for the design, the book I have been reading, "Louis I. Kahn, Light and Space" by Urs Buttiker, states that Kahn spent over six years on the design. I guess less is more and probably takes longer.

Here is another image of some of the windows.

[Andrew B]

And another.

[Andrew B]

And an interior which helps explain the space better.

[MICHEL]

Originally Posted by Andrew B

There was not much info availible in creating this model, so I did my best based on a couple of old floor plans and photos.

Great addition Andrew! I build a balsa model of this house years ago at uni I remember only poor documents were available. Well done, love this house!

[Andrew B]

Michel,
That is exactly what I need to do as well. That and some floor plans, sections, elevations and writing.

[MICHEL]

Well, good luck to you 'cause my uni kept my model in their archives... first time they saw one...