Philadelphians certainly continue to claim Louis Kahn. And how could they not with his Philly rhotic and Joe Lunchbucket gait, his rumpled suits, and matted hair? Half of his two dozen realized buildings still stand there; the other half are scattered to far-flung cities and towns—with each local population claiming him just as vociferously. Those from Exeter, N.H., as I am, are also proud of their Kahn. With a slightly rounded north-of-Boston Brahmin accent and lexical efficiency, they will tell you: Head west, away from downtown’s bandstand, and you can’t miss it. Kahn’s library there—a brick sentinel, the tallest building for miles—is a constant presence. It sits on a low hill along Front Street, which perfectly cleaves the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy, cattycorner from a Ralph Adams Cram church to the west and scarcely 20 feet from Kahn’s Elm Street Dining Hall to the east.

➜Louis Kahn’s Life and Legacy at Exeter, published by the American Institute of Architects, 2015

“According to William Richards ’00, who holds a PhD in art and architectural history and runs editorial and design consultancy Team Three, Kahn deftly creates something that stands apart yet is distinctively steeped in Exeter. ‘If you look at the context of where the library is, Louis Kahn doesn’t incorporate classical details in the way that Dunbar or the Academy Building do,’ Richards says. ‘But he does use classical proportions. And he does use clinker bricks, irregular bricks from the Exeter brickyard, made from local clay.’ The building’s materials and the way they’re used reveal an approach that’s both practical and personable.”

➜A Beacon for Exeter: Architects and design fans weigh in on the majesty of Louis Kahn's masterwork, the Class of 1945 Library, by Daneet Steffens