Louis Kahn´s Salk Institute

The campus of Salk institute was designed by the famous american architect Louis Kahn in 1959 in California. What many don´t know is Louis Kahn´s Salk Institute was inspired in the Persian style garden layout "Charbagh". The architect had also found many other inspirations in the Middle eastern architecture for his other projects around the world.
In Persian, "Chār" means 'four' and "bāgh" means 'garden'. The "Charbagh" is a quadrilateral garden which is divided by walkways or flowing water into four smaller parts. Charbagh style has it´s origins in the Achaemenid Persia and each of the 4 smaller gardens represent a seasons of the year. More examples of this style are: The court of the lions in Alhambra or the garden of Taj Mahal in India.