Amit Khanna of Amit Khanna Design Associates (AKDA) recently did a prospective photographic essay which highlights the Kimbell Art Museum by architect Louis Kahn, and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth by architect Tadao Ando. His writing emphasizes his experiences as they relate to the architectural exterior and interior spaces, while beautifully capturing the buildings themselves. He describes such elements as organization, materiality, and unique details while comparing both works. His essay and images can be viewed after the break.
On a cold wintry morning in Dallas, I went to see one of my heroes. As a student of architecture in India, I revered Kahn’s work and no building embodied his skill better than what my nieces affectionately call “The Hotdog Museum”. Now, even as a practicing architect, The Kimbell Art Museum is still one of my all‐time favorite buildings and my visit helped renew my faith in Kahn as one of the last century’s greatest architects.
Across the road, Tadao Ando has built a very different kind of museum. It’s only when you experience the two of the together that you realize the subtle ways in which Ando has paid homage to the older building while creating spaces generous enough for “modern” art, not always a simple thing to achieve.
