But the leafy grounds help modify its austere appearance. This building is a bold statement and perhaps not easy to like. The interior with its concrete slabs, small hanging cluster lights and distinct geometric separations functions as part of the conceptual design of Erdman Hall. At first glance this is a formidable building of concrete framing, cinderblock walls with slate panels outside and plaster inside that allow light through small elongated windows. The design of Erdman Hall was, in Kahn’s words, based on a “sense of hospitality … as part of the fabric of the house itself.” This fabric was transformed here into an instantly recognizable cluster of tall and austere buildings that were designed as intersecting diamond shapes gathered around a spacious interior place of “hospitality” with light entering from the top. Kahn was a Philadelphian architect by choice and of many callings, and over time his architectural vision matured into what has been called monumental, monolithic, beyond modernism. The most dramatic of these is Erdman Hall, near Morris Avenue, designed by Louis I Kahn in the 1960s and named after a generous alumna. The collegiate Gothic revival style of that era with its turrets and archways prevails and various compatible additions made their appearance later. I recently went for a walk across the leafy campus of Bryn Mawr College looking at the various architectural styles that have evolved since the college opened in the late 19th century.
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