FORT WORTH—David B. Brownlee, Frances-Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor in the department of the history of art at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, will present a free lecture titled “The Kimbell Effect: The Place of the Kimbell Art Museum in the History of Modern Architecture” on Friday, November 2, at 6 p.m., in the Museum auditorium. No reservations required.

Louis I. Kahn declared that the Kimbell Art Museum, completed in 1972, was his favorite building. For 40 years, the Kimbell has remained one of the most influential works of 20th-century art and architecture. In this free lecture, Brownlee will address the diverse reactions of other architects inspired by the classical feeling of Kahn’s late work as well as the immense impact Kahn’s naturally lit spaces had on modern architecture. Perhaps the greatest mark of the Kimbell’s importance is that it has influenced many powerful designs that do not at first glance seem to resemble it, from Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown’s Sainsbury Wing at the London National Gallery to the complex spatial vortex of Frank Gehry’s Disney Concert Hall.

Kimbell's north facade - (photograph by Robert LaPrelle, courtesy of the Kimbell Art Museum)

Kimbell Art Museum gallery - (photograph by Robert LaPrelle, courtesy of the Kimbell Art Museum)

Kimbell's north portico - (photograph by Robert LaPrelle, courtesy of the Kimbell Art Museum)