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The Salk: A Geometrical Analysis Supported by Historical Evidence

In: Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future

Author

Listed:
  • Steven Fleming

    (University of Tasmania, School of Architecture and Design)

  • Mark A. Reynolds

    (Academy of Art University)

Abstract

This paper presents a geometrical analysis of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies by Louis Kahn, 1959–1965. With recourse to construction drawings, a digital plan, photographic evidence, and various forms of textural evidence, we emphasize the role played by musical ratios in Kahn’s thinking about architecture. The Salk is widely regarded as the product of a unique collaboration between scientist Jonas Salk and architect Louis Kahn. Not dissimilarly, the paper is coauthored by a geometer and an historian, the former having the role of identifying proportions, the later charged with reconciling prima facie findings with other available evidence: job correspondence, oral histories, known influences, etc. The research highlights a way in which artifacts, texts and narrative can be given equal consideration when historical inquiry and geometrical analysis are coupled in a joint enterprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Fleming & Mark A. Reynolds, 2015. "The Salk: A Geometrical Analysis Supported by Historical Evidence," Springer Books, in: Kim Williams & Michael J. Ostwald (ed.), Architecture and Mathematics from Antiquity to the Future, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 435-446, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-319-00143-2_29
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-00143-2_29
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