One of the world's most famous architects, Louis Kahn, mysteriously died penniless and alone in a restroom in Penn Station at the age of 73.
The documentary of his life is much like an artistic obituary, but the filmmaker does not leave out the secrets and mistakes of his father's life.
Nathaniel Kahn begins his Academy Award-nominated documentary film, "My Architect" by reading his father's obituary from the front page of a 1974 New York Times. The article lists Kahn's survivors as his wife and daughter but fails to mention the products of his other secret lives. Kahn also had another daughter and a son by two other women out of wedlock, one of which is Nathaniel.
Nathaniel recalls vivid memories of his first 11 years when his father would unexpectedly visit him and his mother. There was nothing in their home to show his father even existed except for a book of silly-shaped boats he once sketched.
"My Architect" not only explores the extraordinary works of a talented architect, but also the short-lived, heart-rending relationship between a father and his son.
Influenced by ancient ruins in Europe, Louis Kahn designed post-modern buildings such as the Kimball Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, the Exeter Library in New Hampshire, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. and Bangladesh's most cherished building, the House of Parliament. Nathaniel also explores the projects Kahn failed to complete such as a synagogue in Jerusalem and the renovation of downtown Philadelphia.
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In his documentary, Nathaniel travels around the world to visit his father's buildings and talks to the people who knew him best in order to discover who his father was.
Although talking head interviews make up a great portion of the film, the cinematography of Kahn's buildings is captivating. Through various shots, Nathaniel shows his father's buildings are just as beautiful as nature's designs of sunsets and oceans.
Although co-workers remember Louis Kahn as a talented man, they cannot forget his imperfections. He is described as an insensitive, unsympathetic, secretive and stubborn workaholic by many of the interviewees.
One of his students say he was "short, scarred, ugly and had a funny voice," and maybe this is why he had to prove something. Nathaniel himself holds a lot of resentment toward his father.
Surprisingly, the people who talk of Kahn with the kindest words are the three women he was involved with. While all three women were aware of each other, none of them seem to hold much resentment toward him. Instead, they talk of his value and accomplishments.
Nathaniel's mother said he was on his way to live with them when he died. She says she knows this is because his address was blacked out on his passport when his body was found.
Nathaniel's conversation with his mother is just one of the many emotionally touching scenes in "My Architect." Another is when he meets up with his two sisters to ask if they are a family.
Overall, "My Architect" is a beautiful and captivating film. There are parts that seem to drag, but Nathaniel's language is poetic, and his photography is stunning.
This documentary shows that while Kahn's gift was architecture, his son's gift is filmmaking.
