Theatre Architects

Born: 1901 (Kuressaare, Estonia)

Died: 1974 (New York City)

Louis Isadore Kahn (originally Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky) was born in 1901 in the Russian Empire in what is present day Estonia.

At the age of five his family emigrated to the United States, and in 1914 he became a citizen of the United States. His father changed the family’s name to Kahn a year later.

Kahn did not arrive at his distinctive architectural style until he was in his fifties. He was strongly influenced by a stay as architect-in-residence at the American Academy in Rome during 1950, which marked a turning point in his career.

Kahn is best known for the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, the National Assembly Building of Bangladesh, and the Arts United Center in Fort Wayne – his only theatre design.