Kahn 125 Days in Kuressaare: International Architecture Seminar "Places that Create Happiness. Places that Create Happiness. Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto and the Meaning of Home

Kuressaare, 18. September 2026

Louis I. Kahn, presentation drawing, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial: perspective showing New York skyline, charcoal on yellow trace, September 1973. The drawing clearly shows how Kahn oriented the Memorial to face the United Nations building across the East River. Kahn, The Last Notebook

Programme under development. Speakers and topics may be subject to change.

Keynote Speakers

  • Marco Falsetti (Italy) – Louis Kahn and His European Grand Tour, 1928–1950
  • Alessandro Vassella (Switzerland) – discussion sessions, topic to be confirmed
  • Per Olaf Fjeld (Norway) – discussion session, topic to be confirmed
  • Gregory Melitonov Kahn (USA) – Ecological Architecture in the United States – In the Spirit of Kahn (working title)
  • Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen (Finland) – The Ethics of Space and the Human Dimension of Home: Alvar Aalto and Louis Kahn (working title)
  • Carl-Dag Lige (Estonia) – Brick: Kahn and Aalto
  • Kathrine Næss (AHO Oslo) – The Productive and Inspiring House as a Community Model (to be confirmed)

Panel Discussion: What Kinds of Places and Houses Make People Happy?

Moderator: Marco Falsetti.  Participants: Per Olaf Fjeld, Alessandro Vassella and other invited speakers.

Side Events Associated with the Seminar

  • Houses that Create Happiness – Homes Designed by Louis Kahn and Alvar Aalto (exhibition at Kuressaare Town Hall Gallery)
  • Light, Space and Joy – Louis Kahn and Alvar Aalto Film Days
  • Creative Environment and Joy of Living – Student Visions of Places that Create Happiness (exhibition at Kuressaare Episcopal Castle)

Additional speakers and accompanying events will be announced soon.