A Threat to Kahn’s Salk Buildings

Like many other historians and architects, I am disturbed by Dr. Jonas Salk’s proposed addition to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla (“Save Salk Institute From Disfigurement,” April 19).

The existing buildings by Louis I. Kahn are internationally recognized as among the greatest constructed during the Modern period. A good deal of their quality and power derives from the fact that they shape a courtyard that acts as a magnificent gateway to the coast. That gateway would be almost completely destroyed by the proposed placement of the new East Building.

The proportioning and detailing of the new building are also at a much lower level than Kahn’s work. The new building should be placed somewhere else on the site, certainly farther away from the existing group. Such should not be difficult to do.

No one claims that Kahn’s works are sacrosanct. But when, as here, they can be easily protected from obvious damage, care should be taken that they are indeed so protected.

VINCENT SCULLY

Visiting Professor

University of Miami

Coral Gables, Fla.