“A dormitory should not express a nostalgia for

home”

"It is not a

permanent place,

but an interim

place."

-LOUIS KAHN

ERDMAN HALL

DORMITORIES

-LOUIS KAHN

FACTS

Architect: Louis I. Kahn

Location: Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania

Date :1960 to 1965

Building Type: Women dormitories

Construction: System concrete frame, CMU infill, slate cladding

Climate :temperate

Context: suburban campus

Style :Modern

Plan type: Intersecting diamond plans with services at core and

rooms at periphery.

Language: Vernacular (Gothic and Scottish Castles) and Classical

Number of Floors: Three

Bathrooms shared by floor

Room Type: Upper Class single, Freshman single, Suites

Special Features: Living room, Tea pantries, Pit, Back Smoker,

Laundry, Women center library, Dining hall

SITE LOCATION 1.Bryn Mawr college

2.Benham Gateway

admissions

3.Campus centre

4.Shipley School

5.Canaday Library

6.Scottish Castle

7.Lois and Reginald

library

8.Erdman Hall

Dormitories

9.Parking area

1

2

3

4

5

6

7 9 8

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

Initial sketches

1. Schematic Plans

2. Resolved Sketch

Plans

The schematic plans were translated into interconnected rectangular figures

He worked with two

simultaneous

proposals

1. Anne Tyng’s

molecular plan.

2. David Polk’s

Scheme Inspiration: jewish community center Six lobbed structure

Design Principle: Wrapping small spaces around large public

spaces and its translation into a unified composition

Division of public spaces at the front and private

spaces at the back

David Polk’s Scheme

L-Shaped rooms assembled into four tower like

blocks grouped around an open courtyard

Servant Spaces

Served Spaces

Diamond Shaped public spaces

Rooms wrapped around a public space

Compacted molecular plan

FUNCTIONAL LAYOUT

3 Levels

Buffer Areas Private dorm

spaces

Entrance Level

Double Height

entrance hall/ Center

Pavilion

Freshman

single

Single

person

room

Corner

rooms

Suites

( for 2

person )

Beaux-Art Principles

GEOMETRY

Private Halls formed by interlocking squares.

Chamfered edges to show the idea of

wrapping the ruins around a building

Plan of the building are three basic squares

skewed.

Linear arrangement of three diamonds.

Influence of architectural

concepts from Romans and

Greek

Used the Scottish Idea of

thick wall surrounding a

central room

STRUCTURE

Fire proof concrete slabs and

concrete roof

Tripartite elevation

Structural cores at the two corners of

the building

Concrete frame with CMU( Concrete

Masonry Unit) Infill

Coffered Roof

Structure (Noise

absorbant and visually

pleasing

Exposed

Concrete

interior walls

Wood used

for furniture

and hand

rails.

Structural Staircase Structural Staircase

U-Shaped Staircase

Building Entrance

LIGHT

Four Light wells placed at the

corners of each central hall.

Artificial

lighting,

Copper

fixtures

Diffused natural lighting

Clearstory windows for diffused lighting

View of the skylight

HIERARCHY OF SPACES

Main entrance hall/

Central Pavillion

Secondary Staircase

Secondary Staircase

Light

wells

Central Placement of the primary staircase

Entrance Lobby being the hierarchical space

Private hall Private hall Common Room

Cafeteria/Dining Hall

RHYTHM/REPITITION

Vertical rhythm created by the

repetition of Slate on Exterior

Facade

Rhythm & Repetition in the

coffered ceiling

Modular

Planning

PROPORTIONS

3a 11/2a

CIRCULATION

Primary Staircase for vertical circulation

Secondary staircase

Entry Circulation

Circulation around the central halls

Entry Axis

Secondary Circulation Axis

SPATIAL ORGANIZATION

Spatial Flow and Layering

Three

Levels

Entrance

Level

Main Entrance Hall

Facing towards

the Scottish

Castle

Ground floor common rooms

Thank You

Presented by:

Kiran Fatima

Maliha Bashir

Yousra Iqbal