LUIS I. KAHN, SALK INSTITUTE, LA JOLLA 1965
"There is time of day when the sun, reflecting on the ocean, merges with light reflecting on the rivulet of water in the trough bisecting the central court. Ocean and courtyard are fused (
) Architecture and nature are joined in metaphysics of place." S. Holl, 1996
"One moves from the communal work space to the intricate privacy of individual offices and finally to the central court opening onto the ocean." Ja + U, 1983
"la strada č probabilmente la prima istituzione delluomo, un luogo di incontro mancante di copertura." L. Kahn, 1950
"Originally intended as tree-lined, the court was paved with Recinto stone on the advice of Luis Barragan, who saw it as a space open to the sky, thus adding another dimension to the idea of connecting with the nature." Ja + U, 1983
"La luce č donatrice di ogni presenza, ma tutto quel che č fatto di luce getta unombra. La nostra č unopera di ombra." L. Kahn, 1950
"If Le Corbusier freed the forms, then Louis Kahn opened the minds door." K. Kawasaki, 1983
"The receding planes of concrete dissolve in light. Shadows are almost tangible. With its low benches, its reflecting pools, its proportionated paving, and its air of ritual, the outdoor room of Salk Institutes takes on the character of a philosophers stage where ideas may be exchanged and the mysteries of nature studied." W.J.R. Curtis, 1982
"The receding planes of concrete dissolve in light. Shadows are almost tangible. It was Luis Barragán who persuaded Kahn to plant no trees and to work with the void. With its low benches, its reflecting pools, its proportionated paving, and its air of ritual, the outdoor room of Salk Institutes takes on the character of a philosophers stage where ideas may be exchanged and the mysteries of nature studied." W.J.R. Curtis, 1982
"Kahns design enforces human recognition of an environment both and heroic in itself: one which is intended to make the scientist feel not in command but both mysteriously and comprehensively challenged." V. Scully, 1994
"While the plan suggests an axial composition, the intentions and experience of the building are not so simple (
) There can be no doubting the sense of antiquity or arcaic but this was achieved by modern means." W.J.R. Curtis, 1982
"Un nuovo monumentalismo, non tanto ispirato alle Beaux-Arts, quanto al mondo della Roma Imperiale e tardo antica. Le opere di Kahn non alludono quindi al logos greco, ma celebrano il risvolto mondano, terreno, della fede divenuta istituzione e potere." M. Tafuri, F. Dal Co, 1988