Traffic Study project , Philadelphia, PA (Plan of proposed traffic-movement pattern)
Louis I. Kahn
American, born Estonia. 1901–1974
1952
A hand-drawn traffic-movement plan by architect Louis Kahn that uses ink, graphite, and collaged paper to propose and visualize a reorganized pattern of vehicular circulation through part of Philadelphia.
A strict street grid is transformed into a rhythmic field of dotted lines, arrows, and repeated circular turnarounds that read like a precise, musical diagram—dense, exact, and unmistakably architectural.
This drawing shows Kahn’s analytical approach—treating urban circulation as a design problem and advancing the idea of the architectural drawing as a generative diagram during postwar efforts to rethink and reshape city infrastructure.
Medium
Ink, graphite, and cut-and-pasted papers on paper
Dimensions
24 1/2 x 42 3/4" (62.2 x 108.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
389.1964
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
