Mikveh Israel Synagogue, project, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Perspective sketch
Louis I. Kahn
American, born Estonia. 1901–1974
1965
A crayon-on-tracing-paper perspective sketch by Louis I. Kahn for the Mikveh Israel synagogue project in Philadelphia, proposing a monumental, columned gathering space that balances classical order with modern simplicity.
The view is spare and panoramic: economical crayon strokes arrange tall, rhythmic columns and tiny human figures against a wide, empty foreground and soft cloud lines, creating a quiet sense of scale and monumentality.
The drawing exemplifies Kahn’s late-career pursuit of archetypal forms—light, columns, and communal ritual—showing how his evocative sketches bridged modernist abstraction and a renewed architectural monumentality that shaped later practice.
Medium
Crayon on tracing paper
Dimensions
18 x 35 7/8" (45.7 x 91.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
394.1967
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
