News

Louis Kahn's Ship May Sail Under Estonian Flag

21.10.2010

Source: ERR News

Robert Boudreau, owner of the "Point Counterpoint II", designed by world-famous architect Louis Kahn, is considering the sale of the ship to the architect's country of birth.

Boudreau (83), who visited Tallinn last week and plans to sail to Estonia with his American Wind Symphony Orchestra next year for the European Capital of Culture festivities, is willing to settle down on solid ground, should an initiative by Estonian architects to establish a foundation for acquiring Kahn's unique piece of engineering succeed.

In an interview to the arts weekly, Sirp, Boudreau said he talked about the idea with Kahn's son, Nathaniel, who "was sure that his father would have liked the idea."

"I knew nothing about Kahn's connections to Estonia before he passed. Now I came here to admire and appreciate what you have done in this country in 20 years. I think it is remarkable. The world should know about Estonia, and this ship could become a vehicle for achieving it," Boudreau said.

Louis Kahn (1901-1974) -- author of such internationally renown buildings as the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, the Yale University Center for British Art, and the National Assembly Building in Dhaka, Bangladesh -- was born in the town of Kuressaare on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, whence his family emigrated to the United States in 1906.

The ship, 59 by 12 meters, and built in 1976, was designed by Kahn specially for the orchestra. It contains an art gallery and a theatre, wooden seating fashioned by the acclaimed Japanese sculptor, Yasuhide Kobashi, and it converts into a floating concert hall by raising parts of the upper deck.

One more auditorium designed by Louis Kahn - First Unitarian Church, Rochester, New York, 1959 ( Photo: Wikimedia Commons)