The Vision of the KAHN Center

The idea of establishing a center dedicated to Louis I. Kahn in Kuressaare first emerged in 2020 by the Saaremaa municipality. The initial vision was not specifically a center dedicated solely to Louis I. Kahn, but rather a cultural and conference center with a large hall for broader public use.

The Saaremaa municipality submitted the idea of the Kahn Center to the Parliament’s Cultural Committee as a candidate for nationally significant cultural objects and included it in the municipality's development plan. The Cultural Committee selected the Kahn Center as a finalist, placing it among ten cultural objects eligible for funding by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. These objects included the Anu Raud Center, the Arvo Pärt Music House, the Helioru Concert Hall, the Kahn Center, the Narva Kreenholm cultural quarter Manufaktuur, the Pärnu Art Hall, the extension of the current building of the National Opera, the Saaremaa Museum, the Tallinn Film City, the Tartu Downtown Cultural Center, and the Science and Technology Center NOBEL.

In the same year, 2021, architect Toivo Tammik worked with TalTech students on a semester project envisioning the potential Kahn Center.

Three years later, at the beginning of 2024, a breakthrough occurred in the Kahn Center project. The LKE Foundation made a proposal to Roger Boltshauser, professor and architect at ETH Zurich, who had also been the main organizer of the "Silent and Light" conference in 2019, to include the Kahn Center project as part of the ETH curriculum. This marked a new and serious development in the detailed definition of the Kahn Center concept.

This time, the LKE Foundation drafted the terms of reference for the Kahn Center. The objective was to establish a permanent international-level exhibition in Saaremaa introducing the legacy of Louis I. Kahn. The center would function as both a workspace and a meeting place for Kahn enthusiasts, professionals, locals, and visitors to Saaremaa.

Currently, work on the Kahn Center is underway at three universities: ETH Zurich, Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), and TalTech in Estonia. The collaboration with these three universities has been supported by the Iceland-Liechtenstein-Norway Fund.

There are several examples of well-functioning centers that enrich regional life and align with the envisioned scale of the Kahn Center. The closest analogue is the Mark Rothko Center in the painter’s birthplace, Daugavpils. In the Estonian context, the best comparable analogue in terms of both size and regional operation is the Arvo Pärt Center in Laulasmaa, whose size currently serves as a reference point for the Kahn Center (total area 2,000-2,400 square meters).

Louis I. Kahn entered architectural history not only through his works but also as an inspiring architectural philosopher and teacher. The core of the Kahn Center would be a permanent exhibition showcasing Kahn's works (approximately 250 square meters) and a library-archive. The archive could potentially include copies of the Kahn archives from Pennsylvania. The library could house not only literature on Kahn but also the personal libraries of notable Estonian architects, which deserve comprehensive preservation.

The exhibition could also feature the life’s work of August Komendant, a long-time collaborator of Louis Kahn and an Estonian-born concrete engineer (1906–1992). Showcasing the work of both Kahn and Komendant would provide a broader context beyond the fact that Kahn was born in Kuressaare.

Another important component, alongside the Kahn-dedicated exhibition, is a multifunctional, modern 140-seat conference and concert hall. The presence of such a hall would meet the needs of various interest groups in Kuressaare.

The center would also include modern exhibition spaces for architectural or art exhibitions, which are currently lacking in Kuressaare.

Louis I. Kahn represented a school of thought where architects were excellent draftsmen and conceptualized through sketching, often drawing on the ideas of Swiss psychologist and psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung regarding creativity. Based on this, the program for the Kahn Center could include a studio space designed for hands-on creative work.

This studio could accommodate resident architects and host various creative courses, such as drawing courses for architects or experiments with materials, including mineral materials. The furnishings and functions of the studio would require separate consideration.

From the perspective of Kuressaare, the studio could also be open for creative courses for local residents and serve as an attraction for city visitors.

In addition to its own programmatic activities, the Kahn Center could serve as one of the hosts and diversifiers of cultural life in Kuressaare. Collaboration with the municipality could enrich the Kahn Center's program and provide a wide range of audiences with a reason to visit Saaremaa.