Yale University Art Gallery

The Yale University Art Gallery was Louis Kahn's first major commission and is considered his first masterpiece. The Gallery was designed whilst Kahn was a visiting critic at the Yale School of Architecture. The building is constructed of brick, concrete, glass and steel and was a significant departure from the dominant neo-gothic style of the Yale University campus. From the street the building appears as a monolithic windowless brick façade. The entrance and glazed façade opposite the Art and Architecture building by Paul Rudolph are beautifully proportioned and detailed. The interior of the building is characterised by a precast concrete ceiling system which houses the gallery lighting and ventilation. The ceiling was an innovative structural and engineering system of hollow concrete tetrahedrons that combine a number of functions and give the interiors a rich and moody quality.