And it's important, you see, that you honor the material that you use. You don't bandy it...
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Louis Kahn:
When you want to give something presence, you have to consult nature. And there is where design comes in. If you think of brick, for instance, you say to brick, "What do you want, brick?" And brick says to you, "I like an arch." And if you say to brick, "Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lintel over you. What do you think of that, brick?" brick says, "I like an arch." [Students laugh] Louis Kahn:
And it's important, you see, that you honor the material that you use. You don't bandy it around as though you said, "Well, we have a lot of material around. We can do it one way, We can do it another." It's not true. You can only do it if you honor the brick, and glorify the brick, instead of just shortchanging it
When you want to give something presence, you have to consult nature. And there is where design comes in. If you think of brick, for instance, you say to brick, "What do you want, brick?" And brick says to you, "I like an arch." And if you say to brick, "Look, arches are expensive, and I can use a concrete lintel over you. What do you think of that, brick?" brick says, "I like an arch." [Students laugh] Louis Kahn:
And it's important, you see, that you honor the material that you use. You don't bandy it around as though you said, "Well, we have a lot of material around. We can do it one way, We can do it another." It's not true. You can only do it if you honor the brick, and glorify the brick, instead of just shortchanging it
Full Transcript
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And when you want to give something presence
00:00:03.103 --> 00:00:04.804
you have to consult nature
00:00:05.001 --> 00:00:07.473
And there is where design comes in
00:00:07.074 --> 00:00:09.866
If you think of brick for instance
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you say to brick What do you want brick
00:00:13.645 --> 00:00:16.999
And brick says to you I'd like an arch
00:00:16.414 --> 00:00:19.617
And if you say to brick Look arches are expensive
00:00:19.817 --> 00:00:23.222
and I can use a concrete lintel over you
00:00:23.421 --> 00:00:26.124
What do you think of that brick
00:00:26.558 --> 00:00:28.727
Brick says I'd like an arch
00:00:31.529 --> 00:00:34.001
And it's important you see
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Movie Summary
Director Nathaniel Kahn searches to understand his father, noted architect Louis Kahn, who died bankrupt and alone in 1974.