This Documentary written and directed by Nathaniel Kahn paints a touching story of the search of his self identity through the investigation of the secret and public lives of his father, the famous architect Louis Kahn.
Nathaniel Kahn had little chance to know his father while growing up, and with this documentary his pursuit is completely devoted to learning from his father’s life, at getting to know him better, and by some means fill the void his father has left in his life.
Nathaniel elegantly combines his investigation of his father’s private life; Louis Kahn juggled between 3 families, and his exhausting proffessional standing. Nathaniel explores his family history with his interviews with his mother and 2 half sisters, from father Kahn’s wife and colleage. He is very sincere in trying to know them better, since he has grown up not knowing his father or of his other families very well.
With this documentary we see Louis Kahn as a man although very charming to women, not very successful with relationship or parenting issues, since he is completely devoted to his profession, architecture. He spends most of his time at his office nearly always sleeping there. But that is the price Louis Kahn pays to create timeless architectural masterpieces. He is consumed by his job and tries to find relaxation through the little time he spends with his 3 families.
Louis Kahn leaves several monumental architectural structures when he dies. One of them the Parliament Building of Bangladesh. He spends a lot his time travelling to Bangladesh and back during the process of this project.
Father Kahn dies in 1974, when Nathaniel is just 11 years old, ironically in a restroom at the Pennsylvania trainstation.
He leaves behind a heritage of great architectural buildings to be admired by new generation architects, a bankrupt office in 500,000$ in debt, and last but not least, a shattered life of 3 children one from his wife and 2 from 2 other long term relationships.