The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, which is one of the undisputed masterpieces of twentieth-century architecture, exemplifies many of the key ideas governing the works of Louis Kahn. Simple yet powerful — cycloid vaults that serve equally well as gallery space, library, and assembly hall — these remain etched in memory. The narrow slits open to the sky, which made this work famous and which Kahn himself called the museum's "longitudinal skylight," cast sunlight onto metallic reflectors that diffuse it beneath the cycloid vaults. Bold volumes, a frank display of materials, and mastery in the use of light to distinguish form — all these are a summation of every hallmark of Kahn's work.
Mark Simon, FAIA, chair of the jury that selected the Kimbell building for the AIA Twenty-Five Year Award for works of the past quarter-century, believes that "the Kimbell Art Museum is a masterful work that has managed to bring together all of its extraordinary skills in a single building: a treasure trove, rich yet disciplined, and at once serene, effortless, forbiddingly beautiful, and timeless." The 11,150-square-meter museum, which opened in October 1972, is set in a garden of approximately four hectares. Kahn, who passed away in 1974, embodied "the silver gleam" in the Kimbell.
The Kimbell Museum comprises gallery spaces, a restaurant, an assembly hall, a gift shop, a library, and service and office areas. The building, which is in the service of works of art, is itself a work of art.
