Mikveh Israel Synagogue, project, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Plan sketches
Louis I. Kahn
American, born Estonia. 1901–1974
1963
A charcoal on tracing-paper sketch in which Louis Kahn works out modular plans and spatial sequences for a proposed Mikveh Israel synagogue, using repeated circles and squares to explore the building’s organization.
The sheet reads like a rhythm of overlapping circles, quick smudges, and erased marks—an energetic, hand-made thinking aloud where repeated motifs and ghostly traces suggest motion and revision.
These sketches expose Kahn’s process of distilling program into elemental geometry, showing how iterative drawings and modular thinking helped shape modern sacred architecture and his later monumental works.
Medium
Charcoal on tracing paper
Dimensions
18 x 33 1/2" (45.7 x 85.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
389.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
