In 1965 Louis I. Kahn was commissioned by the Phillips Exeter Academy to design a library for the school.  Kahn’s sympathetic use of brick and his concerns for natural light met these specific principles that the Academy had in mind for the library, and thus the design fell in his hands. He used Exeter brick on the exterior of the nine story building, a material made in Exeter itself and a design factor that was important to the Academy. He also used stone and slate in the interior, and finished certain aspects of the library in natural wood. The wood contrasted the stone by giving the spaces a sense of warmth and a glow that welcomed readers when the natural light flooded upon this natural material. →