Exploring Louis Kahn's LOST Unbuilt Masterpiece [Goldenberg House]

The Goldenberg House was designed in 1959 by the architect Louis Kahn for Morgan and Mitzi Goldenberg. While the house was never constructed, it was cited by Kahn as holding important lessons for his design process that would be deployed in a number of later structures. These lessons are specifically related to how the outside of the house is irregular while the heart of it, the atrium is a perfect square. While we can see this discovery in the plan drawing for the house, there are likely nuances to its design that are more difficult to understand without being able to visit it in person. But, what if we can visit the Goldenberg House as if it had been built? This video explores the Goldenberg House, its history and design intentions, and uses the findings to construct a digital model of the house to explore in real-time.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:45 Timeline
03:38 Analysis
07:33 Digital Reconstruction
09:01 Walkthrough
11:30 Takeaways

Architecture with Stewart is a YouTube journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.

Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.

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FOLLOW me on instagram: @stewart_hicks & @designwithco

[stewarthicks]

What are your thoughts of the Goldenberg House? Are there any other unbuilt or demolished buildings you would like seen modeled and explored?

[gavranarh]

Stewart you are a treasure, this is becoming my favorite channel

[moonshineweld]

I wish there was more content like this.
Didn't expect the Enscape walkthrough.

[DillonTDavis]

Oh man, Kahn’s work exists on a whole other level. Each one is like some incredible ancient artifact from the future. Would love to see more video essays about him on here.

[AdolphusOfBlood]

Modernist on the outside, roman at it's heart. Always did love roman central courtyard plans with roofs that are meant to capture rain water. They are lovely.

[charpnatl]

We live in a house with a central atrium and at times i hate it other times I love it.
The Goldenberg house model was really cool, I felt as if I’d actually been in this nonexistent space before based on my experiences with our current home.

[phamthanhtung]

You are slowly becoming my favourite architect channel. Keep up the good works!

[alexandrianautocruiser]

It started with one video, and now I keep watching your content! Absolutely monumental work and effort! Love your stuff, man!

[lisakilmer]

That was an interesting walk through. I wonder if you could color the walls and floors with different colors to emulate actual houses? I think the Goldenberg house would have been very aesthetically pleasing from the resident's perspective. But it might well have been uncomfortable in that era: without really good thermal glass the courtyard might have either heated or chilled the house excessively. And I think that cutting out the corners feels like being clever just for the sake of being clever. Triangular/partially triangular rooms are often hard to live in.

[amaw_]

That's it this is my future home, thanks for the suggestion

[stydras]

I agree. The outside looks like it hasn't found its final shape yet, while the inside is much more "conceivable". I especially enjoy the windowed center of the building, it makes the appearence much more spacious than the "U". Also thanks for providing the 3d models, it is very interesting to walk through the buildings and try to see what is shown in the video! Have you considered collecting all of those models somewhere into one big "exhibition"? For example you could open up a community discord and dedicate a channel to just these models. Would also make for a great place to talk about the contents of the channel :)

[alaskanuni]

I feel like there is something to be said for a house that shows it's organization from the outside. I find building more approachable when I can understand them externally as well as internally.

[andrewpalmer]

I love your love and knowledge of Louis Kahn's work and your generosity in sharing it.

[walterzielinski]

I coming into this conversation a bit late, but yes, I'm fascinated by unbuilt designs and would appreciate they're being created with 3D modeling whenever you have the time. Stewart, for architecture and urban design aficionados like me, your vlog is absolutely the best. Many thanks for doing it.

[willispember]

FYI, Paul Cret's last name is pronounced 'cray' as in a French pronunciation. Venturi was in Kahn's office at the time Goldenberg House was designed and is likely responsible for the asymmetry of the exterior. Even as a youngster Venturi taught Kahn much about mannerism, history and topics beyond international style modernism. ( I worked in Venturi's office and these topics were routinely discussed.) Please reference Complexity and Contradiction pg. 51 for a discussion of diagonals, including the Goldenberg House.
Nice model!

[ctopusRex]

I have no idea to what degree this was intended, but this is a truly beautiful fusion of modernism and the classic Roman domus italica. All that's missing are a few concrete columns arranged in the backyard as an abstract peristyle garden.

To me, the opaque, messy, confused exterior is exactly what makes the transparent, clean, orderly interior so unexpected. It achieves a startling first view when entering the home, and that really is something great for a modest-sized home to hang its hat on.

[sylvainpare]

Love your videos so much, we’re lucky to have you! Not a criticism but an invitation: don’t hesitate to show us every details of your walk through the building, you’ve work so hard on the recreation of the buildings and we can take it! I could listen and watch to hours of your fantastic content! Thanks again :)

[Xavyer]

These archeological videos of Unbuilt or Lost Architecture are great insights into jewels that may be lesser known. Hope to see more, these are great

[FahadKhan-yhxt]

Please keep doing these types of content.

[jinye]

I love this kind of contents that dig out the forgiven but more than valuable legacies which have always been a norm in history of architecture. It really inspires me to start up my own YouTube channel about architectural thoughts. 😂