Across the street from Louis Kahn’s first significant piece of architecture stands his last. The Yale Center for British Art was completed in 1974, the year of Kahn’s death and 23 years after its neighbor, The Yale University Art Gallery was finished. A style and theoretical change throughout a career is visible in one scene. 

Unlike most galleries, the design prompt for the Yale’s British Art Gallery called for very specific needs. Being part of an educational institution the agenda called for several learning oriented spaces. Kahn’s thoughts on galleries had been developed throughout a career of institutional design. He believed that museums should be secondary entity that fades behind the artwork. It should pay homage to its holdings and display them well.