Unquestionably, I am referring to "Silence and Light", a concept created and nurtured by Khan, and one that dominated the later half of his work. Kahn had chosen the word Silence to define the unmeasurable or that which has not yet come to be. According to Khan, the unmeasurable is the force that propels the creative spirit toward the measurable, to the Light. When the inspired has reached that which is, that which known, he has reached the Light.

Eloquently expressing the architect's passion for design, Khan wrote "Inspiration is the of feeling at the beginning at the threshold where Silence and Light meet. Silence, the unm

After receiving the commission for the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy, Louis Kahn first asked himself what a library should be. To guide his design process, his first objective was to ascertain the rudimental meaning of a library. "It is good for the mind to go back to the beginning, because the beginning of any established activity is its most wonderful moment." Khan did not investigate antecedents, precedents, nor did he survey its potential users. Treating this library as if no other had come before it, Khan sought the basic nature of the institution.

If we assume that the desire to seek truth and universal knowledge is rooted in the Silence, then we may accept the school building to be the Light, more precisely "spent light". Khan believed that the first schools emerged from the Silence, from the desire to learn. "Schools began with a man under a tree, who did not know he was a teacher, discussing his realization with a few, who did not know they were students. The students aspired that their sons also listen to such a man. Spaces were erected and the first schools began." Since Khan believed the essence of learning institutions should reflect these origins, he concluded that the building should promote the fundamental inspiration of learning.

It is at the top of these stairs, in the grand central hall that the invitation or presence of books begins. It is in this space that the librarians, as khan hoped, lay out the books, open especially to selected pages to seduce the readers. The books are set on tables as well as in case. In addition, the book carts, so important to the function of the librarian's job, are kept in full view, alerting the user to the lifeblood of the library. "At a more essential level, however the design of the building itself participates in the seduction of the user. Moving up the stair and standing in the hall, users can look through the large circular openings and into the main book stacks of the library." These large circles of the central hall are the windows from where the sirens of books call out the user, seducing the student to venture to the second space, the "place of books". It is also an opportunity to allow the books to "speak" to each other, from either side or from a different floor, a form of social interaction of the spaces.

After experiencing the exterior plaza, I was immediately greeted by a sweeping, grand curved monumental stair upon entering the library. Made of marble to reinforce its monumental nature, the stair entices you up a flight to the main level. In an almost ceremonial procession, the invitation to explore further is overwhelming. As I have previously stated, it was Kahn's intention to create three different spaces: one where students would come together in the presence of books, another of the books, and a third for reading in the light.

Buttiker, Urs. Louis I. Khan: Light and Space, Basel, Birkhuser Verlag, 1994.

Khan, Louis I. "Silence and Light: Louis Kahn's Words" in Between Silence and Light, John Lobell, Boulder, Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1979.

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Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page double spaced)