My Architect: A Son's Journey

Nathaniel Kahn's 2003 documentary approaches the architect Louis Kahn through both his buildings and his family. The director is one of Kahn's three children born outside his marriage; he was eleven when his father died and had barely lived with him. The film runs two questions together. One is professional: why Kahn's buildings are considered so important and why he was given so little work. The other is personal: what the children of a man who maintained three families at once think today. The second question never receives a comforting answer. The filming of the buildings is the strongest part, particularly the section on the parliament complex in Bangladesh. Frank Gehry, Philip Johnson and I. M. Pei are among those who speak. The film was nominated in the documentary category at the Academy Awards. Who it's for: those interested in architecture and in personal documentary. Who it's not for: viewers wanting only an architectural study; half the film is a family matter.