Built to serve the growing needs of Phillips Exeter Academy, a private boys school in the town of Exeter. The long tradition of inspiring architecture began with the original campus plan of Ralph Adams Cram. The wish for a library that would reflect the fundamental credo, \"The End is in the Beginning" of the Academy led them seek out by committee an architect of inspiring imagination. The library was to be a Temple of Learning, and Louis I. Kahn was selected to fulfill the ideal of monastic meditation of knowledge. The school worked closely with Kahn to create and open space while providing private study areas in a brick building that would be sympathetic to the surrounding Georgian designs.

2004 - A $5 million, 10-month upgrade included replacing every window, cutting in conventional flashings at every level and renewing mechanical systems. To match the building's bricks, which were created in wood-fired ovens, replacements had to be custom-made by blending seven different brick types.

Original intended library use.

Privately maintained by Phillips Exeter Academy

The use of local red brick and poured concrete against basic geometric forms gives an almost primitive impression. The use of natural light and unified space is one of the critical design elements in all of Kahn's designs and here, after his work on the National Assembly in Dacca, India, the earthy quality of form and functions were satisfied. The modern practice of exposed structural elements creates open dialog between the user and his environment. The honest freedom of joints, connections and raw materials are the only decorations at Exeter.

Kahn took the responsibility of library design very seriously. The circulation of the plan is always dependent on the flow of user to books to light. The process of learning among volumes is drawn from the deeply private meditative nature of the library. The stacks of books are central to every interior view. As we collect our books we move toward private areas of study by bright windows where austere and thoughtful designs do not distract but rather enhance the process of study. The full intent of the design is dependent on its function and the social and philosophical integration of form and function is inextricably tied.

The Exeter library is an excellent example of geometrically based design of modern simplicity of materials that create space for the body and shape for the eye of the user.

The structure is timeless. This is the most remarkable achievement of Kahn's work. One hundred years in the past, or one hundred years into the future, the space offers a dignity of design that is both natural and outside of nature. Unlike Frank Lloyd Wright's organic design, Kahn's work does not use the shapes found in nature, but rather the calculated geometry of man. And yet, his work links itself to the earth and stands a proud as ancient mountains. The modern philosophy of architecture is united with modern, simplistic materials to offer a remarkable combination in Exeter Library.

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