Event

The Department of Architecture welcomes Sue Ann Kahn for the launch of her book "Louis I. Kahn: The Last Notebook."

A conversation and book launch with editor Sue Ann Kahn, the architect's daughter, and William Whitaker, Curator and Collections Manager of the Penn Architectural Archives, About Kahn's new publication, a facsimile of her father's private sketchbook from the last year of his life.

An artifact of historical importance, the Notebook's pages give us an intimate glimpse into Kahn's creative process and take us inside the mind of the master architect at the height of his career. Most importantly, his personality permeates its pages and brings the architect to life for a new generation. Kahn and Whitaker take us through its pages and the stories they reveal.

"Louis I. Kahn: The Last Notebook is a remarkable creation" - New York Times, July 12, 2024

Sue Ann Kahn, daughter of Louis I. Kahn, has advocated for the preservation and restoration of her father’s architecture for over three decades. She has also been an active consultant and significant lender to the major exhibitions on his work. In 1996, she co-curated Louis I. Kahn Drawings: Travel Sketches and Synagogue Project for The Jewish Museum in New York; and in 2017, she collaborated on an exhibition of Kahn’s pastel works at his Kimbell Art Museum. She is the author of a number of recent articles about her father’s drawings: “The Color of Light, the Treasury of Shadows” in Louis Kahn: The Importance of a Drawing, edited by Michael Merrill (2021); and “My Father the Artist” in Reader’s Guide to The Notebooks and Drawings of Louis I. Kahn (2022). Sue Ann Kahn is a noted flute soloist, teacher, and chamber musician.

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