My Architect: A Son's Journey

Architecture, unlike other art forms, allows for interaction with the art as people live, work, and spend their leisure in the erected structures that architecture creates. Louis I. Kahn lived to create useful monumental masterpieces that now can be found throughout the world in places such as La Jolla, California, Dacca, Bangladesh, and Ahmedabad, India. These and other buildings by Kahn changed the perspective of architecture, as contemporary architects study them. In the light of this, Kahn was a renowned and bankrupt architect who was discovered dead in the men's room at Penn Station without identification papers. In My Architect: A Son's Journey the audience gets to follow Nathaniel Kahn's expedition to discover whom his father was, as he never got the opportunity to get to know him as a child. On this venture, the audience, learns that Nathaniel was one of two children that Louis had out of wedlock. Louis had two affairs outside of his marriage in which he had children. It becomes an emotional turmoil for him and his relatives, as he begins to dig up the old news of his father. Nonetheless, Nathaniel remains firm on continuing his discovery of his father, as he meets with his other sisters and family members. Along the way, he learns that it was suggested to have him aborted while he still was a fetus. Also, he learns that Louis' wife, whom he stayed married to throughout life, never acknowledged him or his sister who were born out of wedlock. Nathaniel visits with architects that praised and critiqued his father while all expressed their admiration for his determination to make artistic masterpieces. Employees of Louis Kahn tell both fond and callous memories of him, while all agree that he had a noble work ethic and mental toughness. For example, one former employee tells a story of how he received an assignment to build a model with very short notice, as Louis had to go on a business trip. Three days later when Louis returned from his trip he called him at three o'clock in the morning and told him that the model was crap. In another interview an architect in Bangladesh describes him as next to divine, as he designed the National Assembly in Dacca, which signifies that country's independence. Despite what people might think they know of Louis I. Kahn it becomes obvious in the documentary that this Jewish boy who emigrated from Estonia when he was just a child had a tough upbringing--an upbringing that colored his life, as he was willing to reach out to all people of the world regardless of ethnicity, religion, and race. His care and nurturing affection spread his joy of architectural art throughout the world and is evident through his work in Dacca, Bangladesh, as he was a Jew helping a Muslim country erecting their symbol of freedom. Maybe, as suggested in the film, his love was so great that he did not have the ability to be there for those closest to him. Maybe, Nathaniel was therefore able to discover who his father was through his journey in My Architect: A Son's Journey.

One of my all time favorite movies. What a great documantary and story of a very complicated man and his effect on such a vast multitude of people of all levels and across the world. And then his families, and the son who tells the story and his journey and questions, you can feel how he's attempting to grapple with all that he discovers, that inspired me. Awesome footage, and quirky interviews with some of the legendary architects of our day. Amazing job for the documentor and how he has put such a complex story together in such a simple style without over-simplifying the stories.

When I viewed My Architect, I experienced a well written & skillfully directed Documentary about the life & works of Louis Kahn AIA; I was fascinated, interested, I learned, was informed & entertained (unlike most documentaries). In My Architect, Nathaniel Kahn brings the viewer along & shares a son's journey of purpose. My Architect is a special documentary on multiple levels: A) The Quest: The desire, the need & will of a young man to understand "Did my Father love me?" B) The Uncomfortable Details: Nathaniel boldly unveils Lou Kahn's personal life through interviews with the "wives" & siblings from the 3 families his father simultaneously juggled. C) The Work, the Work, the Work... Nathaniel travels & beautifully films Lou's magnificent buildings & interviews many people involved & impacted by the Work. D) Insight: I learned so much about the man, his ways, his passion. E) Good History: Accurate History is important & Nathaniel Kahn has documented, collected & shared meaningful factual information. F) Made Me Think. My Architect caused me to think about Architecture & about how we each actualize our lives & make decisions. This is a special entertaining & thought provoking documentary. L

You know, I'm not too sure just exactly how I stumbled upon this film, but it has joined the limited number of films I think of as "five star." I really was unaware of Louis Kahn's work, but the theme of the film, a son's search for the man behind his father, proved arresting. Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn was a species of narcissist, insensitive to the needs of his fellow human beings, cognizant only of his own needs and his drive to achieve great buildings. Although physically less than attractive, Kahn's magnetism seduced two appealing young women and resulted in two illegitimate offspring. The fact that the film maker was Louis's only male heir seemed to delude his mother into a form of cognitive dissonance, namely, that despite all his actions to the contrary, she believed Kahn was going to leave his wife and move in with her and their son. Unlikely as that wish might have been, she's touchingly adament in it. The film shows Kahn's finished buildings and their unique features which inspired respect in me, but that respect is evenly balanced with the basic unlikeability of the man himself. Disheveled, insensitive, narcissistic, work obsessed -- this is a hard man to admire and yet...and yet...by the end of the movie I had tears rolling down my cheeks as a grateful Bangladesh official tells Kahn's son that while the man himself might have been deeply flawed as a human being, nevertheless, the overwhelming greatness of his work transcends his human fraility. And that's a hard legacy to top.

Years ago, when I was a child, I first heard the word "bigamist," and my response was, "Oh, another thing that men can do and women can't!" It seemed to me that a bigamist had more than ordinary men -- more wives, more children, more houses, more LIFE. But in "My Architect," the story of the legendary Louis Kahn, who sustained three such relationships, the arrangement did not seem to make any of them -- women, children, progenitor -- happy. This is a fascinating film centered around a son's search for his father that leads us through his work, the people who knew him, and the reclusive and mysterious life he led. It's a great pleasure to meet this son. And a great pleasure to look at his father's buildings. I have watched this film several times, and I never fail to come to tears at the end, when it is explained to Nathaniel that though he may have been disappointed in his father as a father, Bangladesh owes him endless gratitude for creating a building that centered a young nation, gave it selfhood, a place to gather and a place to feel proud. It is truly a masterpiece of a building.

Well balanced documentary of a son who wants to find the personal traces of his long gone well-known father. Interviews with famous architects who knew him, the women, the children and lovingly filmed: his work. In a calm pace this endearing movie will surprise and entice you.

The film tells the story of LK from a perspective totally different from what reading architectural books about him can get. Books and photos about him and his buildings could never convey the same feeling the movie aroused. It is the director's personal journey, yet it has gone beyond a melodramatic story of search, healing and reconciliation of a complicated family (though i also appreciate that very much)to the bigger picture of the spiritual connectiveness his work has incurred amongst family members, colleagues, and those gifted with his buildings . This is so much in line with LK's thinking and design..the timelessness of the human spirit communicating. Kahn should be happy knowing how his work has influenced and inspired so many people in various ways. The film does not deify kahn. People could also misunderstand him and his buildings.. how sad one could be seeing the dilapidated state of the jewish bathhouse. You feel connected to him after watching the film. Everyone loving his work should try to watch it.

A little too dated and boring but interesting info especially for the teacher in me as I teach an arch class

Très beau reportage sur la vie professionnelle et privée de l'architecte Louis Kahn réalisé par son fils Nathaniel. Un documentaire rare et émouvant avec des images fortes sur ses réalisations. A voir et à revoir...

Very enjoyable, and very informative.

購入したDVDは日本では再生できないもので、結局見られませんでした。 返品を依頼しましたが、それにも返事はありません。

Sad story ... from the son of a great architect...victim of his inflated ego

Released in 2003, this documentary about architect Louis Kahn, by Nathaniel Kahn, his son with one of his mistresses, traces the latter’s search into his father’s life and personality. To do so, he visits most of Louis Kahn’s buildings and interviews a wide range of persons who dealt with him on a personal or professional level. This includes not only multiple family members but also all top American architects of the second half of the 20th century: Philip Johnson, E. M. Pei, Frank Gehry, Robert A. M. Stern, Moshe Safdie, etc. Nathaniel Kahn strikes a healthy balance between private and architectural matters. He does not shy away from appearing on screen and sharing his own feelings and views. Most viewers will consider that this candidness compensates various technical glitches regarding camera work and continuity (Nathaniel Kahn dyeing his gray hair away at some point, for instance). Supplements to the DVD are limited to an attractive colour booklet and an enlightening Q & A session with the filmmaker, which includes sequences not integrated into the movie. Overall, anyone interested in architecture, and in father-son relations, will be fascinated by this offering.