Joint, growth and ornament of Kahn’s cast-in-place concrete

Through sheer determination and courage, Kahn has researched the nature of concrete. Each of his renowned works in exposed concrete is itself an important chapter in the history of architecture for the exploration into concrete’s formal expression, beyond the lesson of Le Corbusier. Kahn’s obsession on concrete fabrication processes, and the values of joint, growth and ornament, are systematically examined in the paper. Moving through the many construction systems experienced by Kahn, from the discovery of exposed concrete in the form of béton brut at the Yale Art Gallery, the paper culminates in the reconstruction of the artistic and technical characteristics of two great worksite, the Salk Institute and the Dhaka Parliament. Kahn’s path to the true ‘nature of concrete’ and the main techniques and poetic discoveries such as the ‘liquid stone’ of the Salk Institute and the expression of ‘growth’ at the Dhaka Parliament, are examined.