Architecture is the embodiment of the arts and sciences, a complex combination which results in an ambiguous whole. What once was just a means of shelter, has evolved into a means of which to communicate and express the ever evolving necessities of contemporary society. The demands of the people coupled with the zeitgeist of the period, more often than not, precipitate a prevailing architectural style, one with which the architects of the period rally to. The rediscovery of antiquity gave rise to the Neoclassical movement in the eighteenth century, a return to more classical forms as a reaction to the elaborate Rococo style. Likewise in the twentieth century, the impact of the Second World War amplified the popularity of the Modernist movement. However, in the midst of monotony, there are individuals who strive to break the mould, challenging the preconceptions of the time. Two centuries apart, Étienne-Louis Boullée and Louis Kahn, through their tireless re-examination of the discipline, have established profound ideologies on the nature of architecture, which remarkably allude to common principles.

Boullée and Kahn, architects predominantly associated with monumentality. Boullée, with his extensive collection of unrealised projects which evoke feelings of grandeur and the ‘sublime’; Kahn, in his later works produced buildings of great enormity and magnificence. To classify both architects merely on the sheer scale of their projects would be superficial. A closer inspection into the work of both architects brings one to understand the ideals and principles which underly the apparent monumentality. Boullée, in his design for a public institution, stated that he was motivated by moral and political views; he believed “national pleasure help to maintain good morals¹.” Kahn himself held the personal belief that “bringing people together in domestic or public collective settings would engender social good².” Both architects sought to redefine the nature of their discipline, establishing that architecture more so than any other art has the role of contributing to and improving society as a whole. In the exploration of monumentality of their time, Boullée and Kahn, seemingly parallel in thought, challenged the conventional notion of space and its implication to society; that space was to be experienced by the inhabitants rather than just used.

Many of Boullée’s theoretical projects could be described as emotionally charged, believing in architecture as a means of expression, a poetic interpretation of the prevailing human condition. He was to perceive architecture as more than just the art of building (as described by Vitruvius), that of which he deemed the scientific side of architecture³. To Boullée, the use of the most primal of geometric forms (e.g. sphere), scaled beyond human proportions, could inherently influence the experience of the user. This belief that architecture has the potential to ascend beyond its utilitarian purpose can also be observed in the work of Kahn. When asked whether he believed form followed function, he replied with a definitive no, believing instead in the psychological function of a building, which made no reference to the conventional brief, but rather addressing the underlying meaning of the institution⁴. In his process of addressing a brief, Kahn scrutinised the nature of the programme and sought to develop a plan which above all engaged the human experience in the space. It is evident from this that both architects perceive the utilitarian aspect of architecture to be secondary, one which takes a backseat to a more significant, but ephemeral condition: ‘a spark of inspiration’. 

As Boullée wrote in his book, Architecture, essai sur l’art, “In order to execute, it is first necessary to conceive⁵.”

The opportunities and circumstances of the times would present both men with different fates: constantly refining their craft in the halls of academia, only one would see his ‘monumental’ projects realised. “If there is one project that should please an architect and, at the same time, fire his genius, it is a public library⁶.” In 1965, Kahn was awarded the commission to design the Phillips Exeter Academy Library, in New Hampshire. This project enabled Kahn to demonstrate his growing belief in the need to return to the origins, in which he questioned the original motives of the library as a space and its role to society. He had previously remarked, “You plan a library as though no library ever existed⁷.” His persistence on the exploration of the nature of the institution would lead Kahn to three key insights which would dictate the primary design of the library.

In his perpetual glimpses into history, Kahn would find inspiration in the monastic cloisters of old, of which he generated the idea of the potential of the individual reading carrel, which would be ingrained in the support that harboured them. For him, the design was to instinctively evolve from this inspired beginning. His investigation would lead him to his second key insight into the nature of the library: the importance of natural light to enhance the experience of the user.

 “A man with a book goes to the light⁸.“

The understanding of the nature of the library on the ‘micro’ scale would then lead Kahn to identify his third insight on the ‘macro’ scale: the cumulative whole of the library as an institution. It is here that Kahn makes above all the most literal reference to the work of Boullée. He identifies Boullée’s drawing of ‘New Hall for a National Library’, which features a magnificent barrel vaulted ceiling that encapsulates both the books and people in a single space, as having conveyed the feeling and sense of what the library should be. Kahn is drawn to the idea of a great hall, where you are greeted by the sight of books upon arrival. Both Boullée and Kahn held the institution, that was the library, in high regard, as it was the storage place of knowledge, and as such must be respected and celebrated. His insights into the nature of the library as an institution, would flip all preconceptions on its head, the traditional library programme and plan was reversed: reading rooms were now at the periphery bathed in natural light, with the book stacks adjacent within, protected from the light. In the centre, Kahn designed a great top-lit space which made the most important contents of the library immediately visible to visitors upon entry.