Civic Center Studies, project, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Aerial perspective
Louis I. Kahn
American, born Estonia. 1901–1974
1956-57
An ink drawing on tracing paper in which Louis Kahn sketches an aerial study of a proposed Civic Center in Philadelphia, experimenting with the placement of buildings and plazas as simplified geometric masses.
Sparse, assured pen lines and open negative space make three low circular forms and rectilinear volumes read as a precise axial composition, the translucency of the tracing paper emphasizing the drawing’s immediacy and working quality.
This study reveals Kahn’s method of reducing civic architecture to elemental shapes and strong axes, a visual strategy that influenced mid‑century thinking about monumental public space and the role of form in urban design.
Medium
Ink on tracing paper
Dimensions
8 1/4 x 17" (20.9 x 43.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the architect
Accession
411.1964
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
