NEW HAVEN, CONN.- The recently published Louis I. Kahn in Conversation: Interviews with John W. Cook and Heinrich Klotz, 1969–70 provides fresh insights into the philosophy and genius of one of America’s greatest twentieth-century architects. Transcribed from audio recordings of candid conversations that have never before been published in their entirety, these interviews with Kahn (1901–1974) were conducted by Heinrich Klotz, a young German architectural historian who was then a visiting professor at Yale University, and John W. Cook, who was teaching architecture at Yale Divinity School. The volume has been edited by Jules David Prown, Paul Mellon Professor Emeritus of the History of Art at Yale University and Senior Research Fellow at the Yale Center for British Art, and Karen E. Denavit, Information Analyst at the Center.

During the course of the interviews, Kahn discusses many of his iconic works, including the unbuilt City Tower Project for Philadelphia, the Yale University Art Gallery, the First Unitarian Church in Rochester, and several international projects then under construction, as well as the Yale Center for British Art. The Center was Kahn’s final building, and he was designing it at this time.

Illustrated with dozens of plans, drawings, and photographs, the book features an introduction by Prown, who was also the first director of the Center and recommended Kahn as an architect. According to Prown, the interviews provide an understanding of Kahn’s complex but insightful thought processes, applicable not only to architecture but also to life.

“Having worked with Kahn, for years afterwards and still today, there are things I think Kahn would say that are just rules to live by—the same rules to build by are sometimes the rules to live by.” said Prown. “So, there is a lot of wisdom embodied in the book.”

“I’ve been told by others what Kahn was like and have read his writings, but editing this book has given me more insight into his personal nature, the human side,” said Denavit.