Overview

Born to a Jewish family in Estonia in 1901 and brought to America in 1906, the architect Louis Kahn grew up in poverty in Philadelphia; by the time of his death in 1974, he was widely recognized as one of the greatest architects of his era. Yet this enormous reputation was based on only a handful of masterpieces, all built during the last fifteen years of his life. Perfectly complementing Nathaniel Kahn's award-winning documentary, My Architect, Wendy Lesser's You Say to Brick is a major exploration of the architect's life and work. Kahn, perhaps more than any other twentieth-century American architect, was a public architect. Eschewing the usual corporate skyscrapers, hotels, and condominiums, he focused on medical and educational research facilities, government centers, museums, libraries, parks, religious buildings, and other structures that would serve the public good. Yet this warm, captivating person, beloved by students and admired by colleagues, was also a secretive and mysterious character hiding behind a series of masks.

Full Product Details

9781541450714

Table of Contents

Reviews

A splendid biography that penetrates the inner lives of Kahn's buildings as well as the inner life of their creator. ---Kirkus Starred Review

Author Information

Wendy Lesser is the founder and editor of the Threepenny Review and the author of ten previous books, including Why I Read, which garnered rave reviews from coast to coast. She has written for the New York Times Book Review, the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and other publications. Will Damron is an Audie Award-nominated narrator who has recorded books in every genre, from science fiction and fantasy to romance, YA, and nonfiction. Raised in rural southern Virginia, he has appeared Off-Broadway and on stage and screen throughout the country. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available