My Architect

I just finished watching the documentary My Architect. It was made by Nathaniel Kahn who is the son of architect Louis Kahn. Nathaniel tries to learn more about his father by traveling around and looking at the buildings he designed. Nathaniel never really got to know his father because his father had two other families and fathered two other children. Louis died when Nathaniel was only eleven years old.
I come away from watching this documentary with a couple of thoughts. First, Kahn the architect was indeed a genius in many ways. While many architects get many more commissions and have many more projects to their names than Kahn did, few are able to create the kinds of buildings that he did. He was an artist who knew much about helping people to experience light and shadow and space in powerful ways. A lot of his designs feel almost brutalistic in style on the exterior yet many of the interiors are awe inspiring. When most other architects were solidly aboard the modernist bandwagon, Kahn chose his own path. His buildings are not ornate or even complicated, but they are filled with a kind of simple sophistication that few other architects ever master. The Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban or national assembly building in Bangladesh has a spiritual quality to it in the way it is situated and designed to bring in natural light.
The second thought I come away with from watching this documentary is how sad Louis Kahn's life was. He fathered two children out of wedlock. He had multiple affairs with his employees. He was at best an absentee father and husband. He did little to provide for his families or take much responsibility for their well-being. In many ways, he was a textbook example of a deadbeat dad.
It's these two contrasting themes that leave me feeling unsettled after watching this film. How can someone excel in creativity and at the same time fail so miserably in his relationships? Or, how can someone inspire so many people with his art and let down those who are closest (or should have been closest) to him.
Kahn is, of course, not alone in this. A lot of famous people have excelled in their careers and failed in their personal lives and personal relationships. Sadly, the list is pretty long: Frank Lloyd Wright, President Clinton, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Howard Hughes, Arnold Schwarzenegger and on and on. Even John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was not really a very good family man. From all accounts, he was pretty much an absentee father and husband while he was about preaching and spreading holiness throughout the land.
So, then it makes me wonder if being a creative genius or gifted leader makes one a little bit lacking in the relationship department. Former Speaker of the House and now Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has recently stated that he was working so hard out of love for his country that this caused his first two marriages to fail. In other words, his extreme patriotism caused him to commit adultery - twice. Hmm . . . I'm not sure I buy that just as I'm not sure I buy Louis Kahn's expressions of love through postcards from India for the son that he rarely saw. It just seems to ring false to me. However, I cannot know what really was going on in any one's heart.
What I do know is that actions speak louder than words. We spend our time doing what we think is most important. For Louis Kahn what seemed to be most important was architecture. He excelled at it in many ways. He often slept on a piece of carpet in his office at night because he was always working and thinking about current and future projects. He was indeed a creative genius. It's just sad that he could not have found half as much passion for the people in his life whom he said he loved. Maybe then, he would have found a deeper and lasting peace as a husband, a father, an architect, and a human being.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!