A brief description and one photograph of the Library.
as a whole. Illustrations, plans, section.
Essay on the library design, with photographs and plans. Text in English/German.
Shannon, Carl Dommerich. Learning From Louis Kahn: a Study of the Phillips
Exeter Academy Library and the Mellon Center for British Art at Yale.
A.B. honors thesis, Harvard University, 1987.
A study of two of Kahn's major works, from "theoretical development"
to analysis and interpretation of the completed buildings.
Smith, Charles R. Paul Rudolph and Louis Kahn: a Bibliography,
Metuchen, N.J., The Scarecrow Press, 1987 (pp. 165-167).
A thorough bibliography of writings about Kahn and his work, arranged by
project.
Smith, G.E. Kidder. "The Phillips Exeter Academy Library (1969-71)." In
The Architecture of the United States. Vol. 1. Garden City, NY: Anchor
Press/Doubleday, 1981 (pp. 341-343).
A general description and evaluation of the building.
Tyng, Alexandra. Beginnings: Louis I. Kahn's Philosophy of Architecture.
New York: Wiley, 1984 (pp. 51-52).
Plan, section and photographs of the Library accompany a brief description.
Vivoni-Farage, Enrique. A Measure of Silence: Louis I. Kahn and the
Transformation of the Wall. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1985
(pp. 131-145). Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1985.
The plan of the Library is discussed as a case study of Kahn's approach;
includes illustrations and plans.
Wiggins, Glenn E. Louis I. Kahn: the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy.
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, c1997.
Good photographs and drawings; includes a CD-ROM with a virtual tour
of the Library.
Wiseman, Carter. Louis I. Kahn: Beyond Time and Style: A Life in
Architecture. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007 (pp. 180-205).
The Library is discussed in chapter seven, "A Temple for Learning,"
which contains photographs and a cross-section of the final design.
Wright, Sylvia Hart. "Phillips Exeter Academy Library; Exeter, N.H., 1972."
In Highlights of Recent American Architecture: A Guide to Contemporary
Architects and Their Leading Works Completed 1945-1978. Metuchen, NJ:
The Scarecrow Press, 1982 (p. 66).
A short description of the Library: notes by managers, engineers, contractor.
First Principles. Washington, D.C.: International Masonry Institute, 1974.
Videocassette.
Historian Vincent Scully explains the history of load bearing design
from ancient Rome to present-day Bangladesh, India, and America
in an artistic continuum from the Emperor Hadrian to the American
architect Louis Kahn.
The examples of Kahn buildings used are the government center at
Dacca, the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad, and the
Library at Phillips Exeter Academy.
Louis I. Kahn. London: World Microfilms Publications, 1988. Slides.
A set of 68 color slides of Kahn's works from 1953 to 1972, taken by Tadeusz
Barucki; numbers 57-68 are of the Academy Library and dining hall.
Louis I. Kahn: An Offering to Architecture. Los Angeles: Museum of
Contemporary Art, 1992. Videocassette.
Presents Louis Kahn's mature work. Narration provided by the voice of
Kahn, using excerpts from audio recordings of talks he gave around the
world.
Louis I. Kahn, Architect. New York: Museum at Large, 1972. 16mm film.
Shows a number of buildings designed by the architect Louis I. Kahn,
including the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy.
Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture. Los Angeles: Museum of
Contemporary Art, 1991. Videocassette.
Vincent Scully describes Kahn's life and work; includes Kahn himself
discussing some aspects of his architectural philosophy.
Louis I. Kahn: Three Buildings. Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary
Art, 1991. Videocassette.
Vincent Scully discusses the Library and two other Kahn works.
Louis Kahn: Silence and Light. New York: Michael Blackwood Productions,
2001. Videocassette.
Louis Kahn talks about his work; other architects comment on him
and his architecture, which is seen as transcending trend and style,
and which focuses on light and timeless qualities.
Exeter Library - Louis I. Kahn - Great Buildings Online. 1997-2004.
Great Buildings Online Collection Photographs.
3-D model. Short bibliography.
Phillips Exeter Academy Project Page. University of Pennsylvania.
The Louis I. Kahn Collection. The Architectural Archives of the
University of Pennsylvania.
Archivision. Archivision.
Educational image resource for architecture and design. Slides and
digital files available for a fee.
My Architect web site. 2003. Louis Kahn Project Inc.
Web site for My Architect: A Son's Journey, the film made by Nathaniel
Kahn about his father's life and work. Site includes a video showing some
of Kahn's work, still photos, and other material about the film.
Ameri, Amir H. "On the Logic of Encampment." Issues in Architecture, Art
and Design vol. 4, no. 2 (1995): 118-152.
Explores the link between formal and spatial properties of libraries as a
building type from the Middle Ages to the present. The Academy Library is
featured in the article. A copy of the article can be found on the author's website
http://ahameri.com/cv/ under Research & Publication.
Andreotti, Libero. "Conceptual and Artifactual Research Programmes in Louis
I. Kahn's Design of the Phillips Exeter Academy Library (1966-72)." Design
Studies July 1984: 159-165.
Discusses the evolution of Kahn's design for the Library in theoretical terms.
Plans, sections, drawings.
Armstrong, Rodney. "New Look Library at Phillips Exeter Academy."
Library Scene 2 (Summer 1973): 23-25.
Written by the Librarian after a year's occupation of the Library, this article
describes the concepts considered in the planning and how they were
realized in the design. The cover has a color photograph of the building.
Betsky, Aaron. "Heart vs. Head: In architecture we trust, all others bring data."
Architect (February 2011): 68.
Is architecture art or science?
"Bibliothèque de l'Academie Exeter à Exeter, New Hampshire." Louis I. Kahn
Oeuvres 1963-1969. Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, No. 142: 70-73.
Brief text, photographs of models and plans.
Campbell, Robert. "Grand, But Less Than Great." Boston Sunday Globe
25 November 1973: A5.
Architecture review; "a work of enormous individuality and strength."
Clark, Roger H., Michael Pause, and twenty students of the School of
Design. "Analysis of Precedent: an Investigation of Elements,
Relationships, and Ordering Ideas in the Work of Eight Architects."
The Student Publication of the School of Design, North Carolina
State University at Raleigh, 1979.
Compares elements of various works, including the Academy Library,
by eight architects. Diagrams.
Comstock, Paul. "An Interview with Louis Kahn Biographer Carter Wiseman."
California Literary Review 30 April 2007. Found online at
http://calitreview.com/224
Carter Wiseman talks about Louis Kahn's life and his architecture.
Dameron, Charles S. "A Monument to the Life of the Mind."
Wall Street Journal, 6 August, 2011: C13. Print.
A tribute to the Library in celebration of its 40th year.
Gorlin, Alexander C. "Biblical Imagery in the Work of Louis I. Kahn: from
Noah's Ark to the Temple of Solomon." A&U: Architecture and Urbanism
176 (May 1985): 83-92.
"The highly charged mythical imagery of Exerter (sic) leads ultimately to
the Temple of Solomon through its American Masonic interpretations."
Hennessy, Richard. "Prototype and Progeny: Some Recent Monumental
Architecture." Artforum 17 (November 1978): 68-74.
The building is described as a work in which ". . . function, unit of design
and unit of construction are totally harmonized." The use of brick and the
importance of the facades are discussed briefly, the author maintaining
that Kahn was ". . . rethinking the logic of brick construction." There are
photographs, with one of the Kahn-designed dining hall mislabeled "Library."
Hughes, Robert. "Brick is Stingy, Concrete is Generous." Horizon 16 (Autumn
1974): 30-45.
A general article about Kahn's work and philosophy; contains a brief
description of the Library and several photographs.
Huxtable, Ada Louise. "New Exeter Library: Stunning Paean to Books."
The New York Times 23 October 1972: 33-34.
Description and evaluation of the building. "A serene, distinguished
structure of considerable beauty...."
Jordy, William H. "Criticism: Kimball Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas/
Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire." The
Architectural Review 155 (June 1974): 330-335.
Discussion of the two buildings, which were completed almost
simultaneously. Plans, models, illustrations.
"Kahn a Doppio Guscio." L'Architettura: Chroniche e Storia xviii,
(gennaio 1973): 615.
Brief article with illustration and plan.
"Kahn: Phillips Exeter; Library Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter,
New Hampshire." The Architectural Review 155 (June 1974):
336-342.
Description, plans and elevations, photographs.
Kay, Jane Holtz. "Architecture." The Nation 30 March 1974: 413-414.
Discusses the architecture of the Library and its relation to the
rest of the campus.
Kohane, Peter. "Louis I. Kahn and the Library: Genesis and Expression
of 'Form.'" Via 10 (1990): 99-131.
Essay on Kahn's thoughts about libraries, and the design of the
Academy Library in particular. Illustrations, plans.
LeCuyer, Annette. "Evaluation: Kahn's Powerful Presence at Exeter."
Architecture 74 (February 1985): 74-79.
The Library and dining hall are described in terms of their functioning
in the Exeter setting; ". . . a timeless vision — at once classical and
contemporary — of institutions that form the very foundation of human
culture." Photographs, plan.
"Louis Kahn: Biblioteca della Phillips Exeter Academy ad Exeter,
Inghilterra" (sic). L'Architettura: Chroniche e Storia xx. n. 5 (settembre
1974): 325-327.
Brief article accompanied by photographs, plans, section.
Marlin, William. "Within the Folds of Construction." The Architectural Forum
139 (October 1973): 26-35.
Discussion on the theme: "Louis Kahn's work at Exeter Academy
evinces an on-going search for the essential elements of architecture."
Photographs.
Mattern, Shannon. "Geometries of Reading, Light of Learning: Louis I. Kahn's
Library at Phillips Exeter." Nexus Network Journal 12, 3 (2010): 389-420.
Examines how the geometric forms of the library shape patrons'
relationships to media in the collection.
"The Mind of Louis Kahn." The Architectural Forum 137 (July/August
1972): 76-77.
After a brief description there is a statement by Kahn about his
intent and thinking behind the design of the Library. Photographs,
plan, elevation.
Novitski, B. J. "In Search of Louis Kahn." Architecture Week 17 Dec.
2003: C1.
A review of the film My Architect.
Petrilli, Amedeo. "Exeter Academy di Louis Kahn/The Phillips Exeter Library by
Louis Kahn." Spazio E Societa/Space & Society 18, 76 (Oct-Dec 1996): 68-71.
Kahn's words on the Phillips Exeter Library from What Will Be Has
Always Been: the Words of Louis I. Kahn (Ed. Richard Saul Wurman.
New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1990.)
Printed in English and Italian. Photographs, plans.
"Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.: Louis I. Kahn - Philadelphia."
New England Architect July/August 1972: 21-24.
Describes the planning and finished details of the building. Illustrated
with photographs and plans.
Richards, William, "Razing the Exeter Dining Hall: Pros and Kahns."
Future Anterior, Vol 1, issue 2, Fall 2004: 50-57.
Considers the significance of Kahn's Elm Street dining hall at Phillips Exeter
Academy which was completed in 1972 along with Kahn's library.
Russell, James S., "The Richness of Louis Kahn's Library Stands the Test of
Time." Architectural Record, May 1997: 94-96.
The Academy Library wins the prestigious 25-year award of the
American Institute of Architects. Photographs.
Shenker, Israel. "Kahn Defines Aim of Exeter Design." The New York
Times 23 October 1972: 40.
An interview with the architect who speaks of his principles of architecture,
the Library and other buildings.
Wickersham, Jay. "The Making of Exeter Library." Harvard Architecture
Review 7 (1989): 138-149.
A thorough article on the design and construction of the Library by an
alumnus of the Academy. Illustrations, plans, sections.
Wiseman, Carter. "Stern vs Kahn in Preppieland." The New Criterion 10
(March 1992): 62-4.
A comparison of the architecture of two libraries; St Paul's School, Concord, NH
and Phillips Exeter Academy, with PEA library being described favorably as
a "timeless masterpiece."