Louis Kahn: Four Freedoms Memorial Park v New York
Projects realized after the death of an architect are, in many ways, a distinctive category. The work created within the given contexts, building technologies, original intentions, and context is subject to new factors not considered or even non-existent at the time of the design. The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona has been under construction for almost a hundred years. Several generations of Spanish architects have been attempting to complete it with varying degrees of success and differing responses to modern interpretations of fragmented or entirely missing Gaudí's project documentation. Le Corbusier's Saint-Pierre in Firminy has been completed, with some describing it as one of the most significant buildings of the 21st century, and Peter Eisenman even calling it the best building since 1980¹. An opposite example in this group is the American Massaro House on Petre Island in New York State. A new owner showed interest in the original design by architect F. L. Wright, which was not realized during his time, in the 1990s. However, the F. L. Wright Foundation refused to authorize the project or provide the preserved documentation. Massaro, firmly determined to develop documentation for Wright's study, hired one of Wright's former apprentices. The house is now mired in authorship disputes, lawsuits, and professional debates about the originality of the work. Surely, there are many similar stories.
A new building by Louis Kahn will soon be added to this specific collection - designed in 1973-74. Four Freedoms Memorial Park is a new project on Roosevelt Island in New York. This will be Kahn's first realized work in New York. It is not the only one on the East Coast; several of his significant buildings are along the Atlantic coast: Phillips Exeter Academy Library, Yale University Gallery, Richards Medical research laboratories in Philadelphia, or the Unitarian Church in Rochester. Memorial Park is one of his last designs, completed in 1974, during his time at the University of Pennsylvania while working on exceptional buildings, including the parliament in Dhaka. Kahn was aware of the significance of this commission - not only was it an enticing opportunity for intervention in an American metropolis, but it also served as a tribute to President Roosevelt, whose "New Deal" policy enabled Kahn to secure several projects during the difficult early days of his career.
Four Freedoms Memorial Park is, in many ways, an atypical endeavor for Kahn. It belongs to projects of small and garden architecture, which Kahn designed for New York, Philadelphia, and other American cities, but none were realized. The central motif of Kahn's design consists of two elements - the "Garden" (Garden) is a linear garden promenade narrowing toward the end of the island's southern tip, culminating in a square space called the "Room" (Room) open to the sky, the ocean, and the New York skyline. This modern shrine is clad in white-glowing granite, inscribed with excerpts from Roosevelt's famous Four Freedoms Speech, which also gave the entire project its name. At the entrance to the memorial is a bust of the president from 1933. Roosevelt Island is accessible via a suspended cable car, and new garden adjustments in the southern part can already be visited, offering a beautiful view of the UN buildings, the Seagram Building, Grand Central Station, and the entire eastern promenade of Manhattan.
The project will be completed in 2012. The composed garden promenade with a simple yet monumental pavilion at the center of the composition is slowly taking shape without much media and public attention. However, it is already possible to estimate its future significance and contribution to the densely populated metropolis. It will certainly be not only a dignified memorial to a great statesman but also a magical place offering an extraordinary experience in the romantic setting of a picturesque island on the East River.
> more information at www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org
1) The World Architecture Survey 2010
A new building by Louis Kahn will soon be added to this specific collection - designed in 1973-74. Four Freedoms Memorial Park is a new project on Roosevelt Island in New York. This will be Kahn's first realized work in New York. It is not the only one on the East Coast; several of his significant buildings are along the Atlantic coast: Phillips Exeter Academy Library, Yale University Gallery, Richards Medical research laboratories in Philadelphia, or the Unitarian Church in Rochester. Memorial Park is one of his last designs, completed in 1974, during his time at the University of Pennsylvania while working on exceptional buildings, including the parliament in Dhaka. Kahn was aware of the significance of this commission - not only was it an enticing opportunity for intervention in an American metropolis, but it also served as a tribute to President Roosevelt, whose "New Deal" policy enabled Kahn to secure several projects during the difficult early days of his career.
Four Freedoms Memorial Park is, in many ways, an atypical endeavor for Kahn. It belongs to projects of small and garden architecture, which Kahn designed for New York, Philadelphia, and other American cities, but none were realized. The central motif of Kahn's design consists of two elements - the "Garden" (Garden) is a linear garden promenade narrowing toward the end of the island's southern tip, culminating in a square space called the "Room" (Room) open to the sky, the ocean, and the New York skyline. This modern shrine is clad in white-glowing granite, inscribed with excerpts from Roosevelt's famous Four Freedoms Speech, which also gave the entire project its name. At the entrance to the memorial is a bust of the president from 1933. Roosevelt Island is accessible via a suspended cable car, and new garden adjustments in the southern part can already be visited, offering a beautiful view of the UN buildings, the Seagram Building, Grand Central Station, and the entire eastern promenade of Manhattan.
The project will be completed in 2012. The composed garden promenade with a simple yet monumental pavilion at the center of the composition is slowly taking shape without much media and public attention. However, it is already possible to estimate its future significance and contribution to the densely populated metropolis. It will certainly be not only a dignified memorial to a great statesman but also a magical place offering an extraordinary experience in the romantic setting of a picturesque island on the East River.
> more information at www.fdrfourfreedomspark.org
1) The World Architecture Survey 2010
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