Nathaniel Kahn is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated maker of documentary films. His journey to understand his distant father — the legendary modern architect Louis Kahn — became the film "My Architect."

Why you should listen

The architect Louis Kahn was known for formally brilliant modern buildings, but his personal life was utterly baroque: married with one child, he had two other children by two other women. His only son, Nathaniel, met him rarely; Louis died when Nathaniel was only 11. Nathaniel grew up to become a playwright and documentary filmmaker -- he worked on such award-winning films as 1996's My Father's Garden and Canary of the Ocean

His 2002 film My Architect traveled the world to uncover the mysteries of his father, looking for clues in Louis Kahn's body of work, in his work relationships and his personal ones. It's a film with meaning to anyone who seeks to understand the relationship between art and love. After My Architect, Kahn directed the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated 2004 documentary Two Hands, about the pianist Leon Fleischer, and produced a mockumental look at the director M. Night Shyamalan.

Nathaniel Kahn’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Nathaniel Kahn

The week in comments

April 11, 2009

We love your comments here at TED, and often what our community has to say is as interesting as the talk or post itself. The clever quips, the personal revelations and the hot debates don’t go unnoticed — we read every one. A few of our favorite comments this week: On our home page makeover: […]

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Architecture

My father, my architect: Nathaniel Kahn on TED.com

April 6, 2009

Nathaniel Kahn shares clips from his documentary My Architect, about his quest to understand his father, the legendary architect Louis Kahn. It’s a film with meaning to anyone who seeks to understand the relationship between art and love. (Recorded at TED2002, February 2002, in Monterey, California. Duration: 10:28.)   Watch Nathaniel Kahn’s talk from TED2002 […]

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