ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nathaniel Kahn - Filmmaker
Nathaniel Kahn is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated maker of documentary films. His journey to understand his distant father -- the legendary modern architect Louis Kahn -- became the film "My Architect."

Why you should listen

The architect Louis Kahn was known for formally brilliant modern buildings, but his personal life was utterly baroque: married with one child, he had two other children by two other women. His only son, Nathaniel, met him rarely; Louis died when Nathaniel was only 11. Nathaniel grew up to become a playwright and documentary filmmaker -- he worked on such award-winning films as 1996's My Father's Garden and Canary of the Ocean

His 2002 film My Architect traveled the world to uncover the mysteries of his father, looking for clues in Louis Kahn's body of work, in his work relationships and his personal ones. It's a film with meaning to anyone who seeks to understand the relationship between art and love. After My Architect, Kahn directed the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated 2004 documentary Two Hands, about the pianist Leon Fleischer, and produced a mockumental look at the director M. Night Shyamalan.

More profile about the speaker
Nathaniel Kahn | Speaker | TED.com
TED2002

Nathaniel Kahn: Scenes from "My Architect"

Nathaniel Kahn o "Mom arhitektu"

Filmed:
393,267 views

Nathaniel Kahn prikazuje isječke iz svog dokumentarca "Moj arhitekt", o svom pohodu da razumije svog oca, legendarnog arhitekta Louisa Kahna. To je film sa značenjem za svakoga tko traži razumijevanje između umjetnosti i ljubavi.
- Filmmaker
Nathaniel Kahn is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated maker of documentary films. His journey to understand his distant father -- the legendary modern architect Louis Kahn -- became the film "My Architect." Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
One thing I wanted to say about filmfilm makingizrađivanje is -- about this filmfilm --
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Jedna stvar koju želim reći o snimanju filmova -- o tom filmu --
00:15
in thinkingmišljenje about some of the wonderfulpredivan talksrazgovori we'veimamo heardčuo here,
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u razmišljanju o nekim od prekrasnih govora koje smo čuli ovdje,
00:19
MichaelMichael MoschenMoschen, and some of the talksrazgovori about musicglazba,
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Michael Moschen, i neki od govora o glazbi,
00:21
this ideaideja that there is a narrativepripovijest linecrta,
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je ta ideja kako postoji pripovjedačka linija,
00:24
and that musicglazba existspostoji in time.
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i kako glazba postoji u vremenu.
00:27
A filmfilm alsotakođer existspostoji in time; it's an experienceiskustvo
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Film isto tako postoji u vremenu, to je iskustvo
00:30
that you should go throughkroz emotionallyemotivno.
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kroz koje biste trebali proći emocionalno.
00:33
And in makingizrađivanje this filmfilm I feltosjećala that so manymnogi of the documentariesdokumentarci I've seenvidio
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A u izradi ovog filma osjećao sam kako su mnogi dokumentarni filmovi koje sam vidio
00:35
were all about learningučenje something,
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bili o učenju nečega,
00:38
or knowledgeznanje, or drivenupravljan by talkingkoji govori headsglave, and drivenupravljan by ideasideje.
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ili znanja, ili potaknuti glavama koje govore, i potaknuti idejama.
00:42
And I wanted this filmfilm to be drivenupravljan by emotionsemocije,
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I želio sam da ovaj film bude potaknut osjećajima,
00:45
and really to followslijediti my journeyputovanje.
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i da doista slijedi moje putovanje.
00:47
So insteadumjesto of doing the talkingkoji govori headglava thing, insteadumjesto it's composedsastavljen of scenesscene,
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Dakle, umjesto glava koje govore, on je sastavljen od scena,
00:50
and we meetsastati people alonguz the way.
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i mi susreće ljude duž našeg puta.
00:52
We only meetsastati them oncejednom.
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Srećemo ih samo jednom.
00:54
They don't come back severalnekoliko timesputa, so it really chroniclesKronike a journeyputovanje.
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Oni se ne vraćaju natrag više puta, pa stoga to doista bilježi putovanje.
00:57
It's something like life, that oncejednom you get in it
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To je nešto poput života, jednom kada uđeš u njega
01:00
you can't get out.
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ne možeš izaći van.
01:02
There are two clipsklipovi I want to showpokazati you,
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Postoje dva video isječka koja vam želim pokazati,
01:04
the first one is a kindljubazan of hodgepodgepapazjanija,
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prvi je neka vrsta čudne mješavine,
01:07
its just threetri little momentstrenutke, fourčetiri little momentstrenutke
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to je samo tri mala trenutka, četiri mala trenutka
01:10
with threetri of the people who are here tonightvečeras.
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s tri osobe koje su večeras ovdje.
01:12
It's not the way they occurdoći in the filmfilm,
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Nije način na koji se pojavljuju u filmu,
01:14
because they are partdio of much largerveći scenesscene.
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jer su oni dio mnogo većih prizora.
01:16
They playigrati off eachsvaki other in a wonderfulpredivan way.
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Oni izigravaju jedan drugoga na prekrasan način.
01:19
And that endskrajevi with a little clipspojnica of my fatherotac, of LouLou,
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A to završava s malim video isječkom mog oca, Lou-a,
01:21
talkingkoji govori about something that is very deardraga to him,
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koji priča o nečemu što je njemu vrlo drago,
01:23
whichkoji is the accidentsnesreća of life.
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a to su životne zgode.
01:25
I think he feltosjećala that the greatestnajveći things in life were accidentalslučajnog,
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Mislim kako je osjećao kako su najveće stvari u životu slučajne,
01:28
and perhapsmožda not plannedplanirani at all.
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i možda uopće nisu planirane.
01:31
And those threetri clipsklipovi will be followedslijedi by a scenescena of
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A nakon ta tri isječka će slijediti prizor
01:35
perhapsmožda what, to me, is really his greatestnajveći buildingzgrada
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nečega što je po meni, njegova uistinu najbolja građevina
01:37
whichkoji is a buildingzgrada in DhakaDhaka, BangladeshBangladeš.
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a to je zgrada u Dhaki, Bangladešu.
01:39
He builtizgrađen the capitalglavni over there.
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On je tamo izgradio glavni grad.
01:42
And I think you'llvi ćete enjoyuživati this buildingzgrada, it's never been seenvidio --
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I mislim kako ćete uživati u toj zgradi, nikada nije bila viđena,
01:44
it's been still photographedfotografirani, but never photographedfotografirani by a filmfilm crewposada.
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još uvijek se fotografira, ali nikada je nije fotografirala filmska ekipa.
01:49
We were the first filmfilm crewposada in there.
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Mi smo bili prva filmska ekipa tamo unutra.
01:52
So you'llvi ćete see imagesslika of this remarkableizvanredan buildingzgrada.
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Dakle, vidjet ćete snimke te izvanredne zgrade.
01:55
A couplepar of things to keep in mindum when you see it,
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Par stvari koje trebate imati na umu kada je vidite,
01:57
it was builtizgrađen entirelypotpuno by handruka,
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jest kako je u potpunosti izgrađena ručno,
01:59
I think they got a cranedizalica the last yeargodina.
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mislim kako su prošle godine dobili dizalicu.
02:03
It was builtizgrađen entirelypotpuno by handruka off bamboobambus scaffoldingskele,
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U potpunosti je ručno izgrađena na skelama od bambusa,
02:06
people carryingnošenje these basketskošara of concretebeton on theirnjihov headsglave,
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i ljudi koji nose te košare betona na svojim glavama,
02:08
dumpingistovarivanje them in the formsobrasci.
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i odlažu ih u kalupe.
02:10
It is the capitalglavni of the countryzemlja,
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To je glavni grad zemlje,
02:12
and it tookuzeo 23 yearsgodina to buildizgraditi,
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i trebalo je 23 godine da se izgradi,
02:15
whichkoji is something they seemčiniti se to be very proudponos of over there.
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što je nešto na što su tamo jako ponosni.
02:18
It tookuzeo as long as the TajTaj MahalMahala.
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Trajalo je jednako dugo kao i izgradnja Taj Mahala.
02:20
UnfortunatelyNažalost it tookuzeo so long that LouLou never saw it finishedgotov.
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Nažalost, gradnja je trajala toliko dugo da Lou nikada nije dočekao završetak.
02:23
He diedumro in 1974.
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Umro je 1974. godine.
02:26
The buildingzgrada was finishedgotov in 1983.
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Zgrada je završena 1983. godine.
02:29
So it continuedi dalje on for manymnogi yearsgodina
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Dakle, gradnja je nastavljena mnogo godina
02:31
after he diedumro.
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nakon što je on umro.
02:34
Think about that when you see that buildingzgrada,
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Razmislite o tome kada vidite tu zgradu,
02:36
that sometimesponekad the things we strivetežiti for so hardteško in life we never get to see finishedgotov.
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kako nekada stvari kojima težimo toliko marljivo cijeli život, nikada ne vidimo završene.
02:40
And that really struckpogođen me about my fatherotac,
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I to me doista pogodilo o mom ocu,
02:44
in the senseosjećaj that he had suchtakav beliefvjerovanje
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na način da je imao takvo uvjerenje
02:46
that somehownekako, doing these things
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kako će nekako, radeći te stvari,
02:48
givingdavanje in the way that he gavedali, that something good would come out of it,
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dajući na način na koji je on davao, kako će nešto dobro proizaći iz toga,
02:51
even in the middlesrednji of a warrat, there was a warrat with PakistanPakistan at one pointtočka,
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čak i usred rata, u jednom trenutku vodio se rat s Pakistanom,
02:53
and the constructionizgradnja stoppedprestao totallypotpuno and he keptčuva workingrad,
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i gradnja je u potpunosti stala a on je nastavio raditi,
02:56
because he feltosjećala, "Well when the warrat is doneučinio
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jer je osjećao, "Pa, kada rat završi,
02:58
they'lloni će need this buildingzgrada."
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trebat će im ova zgrada."
03:01
So, those are the two clipsklipovi I'm going to showpokazati.
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Dakle, to su dva video isječka koja vam želim pokazati.
03:03
RollRole that tapetraka.
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Zavrtite tu vrpcu.
03:06
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
03:14
RichardRichard SaulŠaul WurmanWurman: I rememberzapamtiti hearingsluh him talk at PennPenn.
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Richard Saul Wurman: Sjećam se slušajući ga kako priča na Penn Sveučilištu.
03:17
And I camedošao home and I said to my fatherotac and mothermajka,
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I došao sam doma i rekao svom ocu i majci,
03:20
"I just metsastali this man: doesn't have much work,
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"Upravo sam upoznao tog čovjeka, nema puno posla,
03:23
and he's sortvrsta of uglyružan, funnysmiješno voiceglas,
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i ima prilično ružan, smiješan glas,
03:27
and he's a teacheručitelj, nastavnik, profesor at schoolškola.
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i on je profesor na Sveučilištu.
03:29
I know you've never heardčuo of him, but just markocjena this day
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Znam kako nikada niste čuli o njemu, ali obilježite ovaj dan
03:32
that somedayjednog dana you will hearčuti of him,
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kako ćete jednom čuti za njega,
03:35
because he's really an amazingnevjerojatan man."
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jer on je doista izniman čovjek."
03:38
FrankFrank GehryGehry: I heardčuo he had some kindljubazan of a flingflert with IngridIngrid BergmanBergman. Is that truepravi?
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Frank Gehry: Čuo sam kako je imao neku vrstu afere s Ingrid Bergman. Je li to istina?
03:44
NathanielNathaniel KahnKahn: If he did he was a very luckysretan man.
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Nathaniel Kahn: Ukoliko jest, on je bio doista sretan čovjek.
03:46
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
03:48
NKNK: Did you hearčuti that, really?
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NK: jeste li to čuli, doista?
03:49
FGFG: Yeah, when he was in RomeRome.
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FG: Da, kada sam bio u Rimu.
03:52
MosheMoshe SafdieSafdie: He was a realstvaran nomadNomad.
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Moshe Safdie: On je bio pravi nomad.
03:55
And you know, when I knewznao him when I was in the officeured,
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I znaš, kada sam ga poznavao kada sam bio u uredu,
03:57
he would come in from a tripputovanje, and he would be in the officeured
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on bi se vratio s puta, i ostao bi u uredu
03:59
for two or threetri daysdana intenselyintenzivno, and he would packpaket up and go.
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intenzivno dva ili tri dana, i zatim bi se ponovno spakirao i otišao.
04:02
You know he'don bi be in the officeured tilldo threetri in the morningjutro workingrad with us
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Znaš, on bi bio u uredu sve do tri ujutro radeći s nama
04:06
and there was this kindljubazan of senseosjećaj of the nomadNomad in him.
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i postojao je taj osjećaj prisutnosti skitnice u njemu.
04:08
I mean as tragictragičan as his deathsmrt was in a railwayŽeljeznički stationstanica,
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Mislim, koliko god njegova smrt na željezničkoj pruzi bila tragična,
04:14
it was so consistentdosljedan with his life, you know?
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bila je toliko dosljedna njegovu životu, znaš?
04:16
I mean I oftenčesto think I'm going to dieumrijeti in a planeavion,
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Mislim, ja često razmišljam kako ću umrijeti u avionu,
04:18
or I'm going to dieumrijeti in an airportzračna luka,
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ili ću umrijeti na aerodromu,
04:20
or dieumrijeti joggingtrčanje withoutbez an identificationIdentifikacija on me.
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ili ću umrijeti trčeći bez ikakve identifikacije na sebi.
04:23
I don't know why I sortvrsta of carrynositi that
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Ne znam zašto nosim to
04:25
from that memorymemorija of the way he diedumro.
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kao sjećanje na način na koji je umro.
04:28
But he was a sortvrsta of a nomadNomad at heartsrce.
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Ali u srcu je bio neka vrsta skitnice.
04:33
LouisLouis KahnKahn: How accidentalslučajnog our existencesegzistencija are really
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Louis Kahn: Koliko slučajna su uistinu naša postojanja
04:36
and how fullpuni of influenceutjecaj by circumstanceokolnost.
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i koliko puna utjecaja okolnosti.
05:56
Man: We are the morningjutro workersradnici who come, all the time, here
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Čovjek: Mi smo jutarnji radnici koji dolaze, cijelo vrijeme, ovdje
06:01
and enjoyuživati the walkinghodanje, city'sgrad je beautyljepota and the atmosphereatmosfera
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i uživamo u šetnji, gradskoj ljepoti i atmosferi
06:05
and this is the nicestnajljepša placemjesto of BangladeshBangladeš.
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i ovo je najljepše mjesto u Bangladešu.
06:09
We are proudponos of it.
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Ponosni smo na to mjesto.
06:11
NKNK: You're proudponos of it?
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NK: Ponosni ste?
06:13
Man: Yes, it is the nationalnacionalna imageslika of BangladeshBangladeš.
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Čovjek: Da, to je nacionalna slika Bangladeša.
06:16
NKNK: Do you know anything about the architectarhitekt?
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NK: Znate li išta o arhitektu?
06:19
Man: ArchitectArhitekt? I've heardčuo about him; he's a top-rankingNajbolje rangirani architectarhitekt.
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Čovjek: Arhitektu? Čuo sam kako je on [nejasno] arhitekt.
06:26
NKNK: Well actuallyzapravo I'm here because I'm the architect'sarhitekta sonsin,
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NK: Pa, zapravo ja sam ovdje jer sam ja sin arhitekta,
06:29
he was my fatherotac.
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on je bio moj otac.
06:31
Man: Oh! DadTata is LouisLouis FarrakhanFarrakhan?
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Čovjek: O! Otac je Loius Farrakhan?
06:33
NKNK: Yeah. No not LouisLouis FarrakhanFarrakhan, LouisLouis KahnKahn.
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NK: Da. Ne nije Louis Farrakhan, Louis Kahn.
06:36
Man: LouisLouis KahnKahn, yes!
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Čovjek: Louis Kahn, da!
06:39
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
06:41
Man: Your fatherotac, is he aliveživ?
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Čovjek: Vaš otac, je li živ?
06:43
NKNK: No, he's been deadmrtav for 25 yearsgodina.
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NK: Ne, mrtav je već 25 godina.
06:46
Man: Very pleasedzadovoljan to welcomeDobrodošli you back.
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Čovjek: Vrlo nam je drago što ste se vratili.
06:49
NKNK: Thank you.
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NK: Hvala vam.
07:30
NKNK: He never saw it finishedgotov, Popne..
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NK: On nikada nije vidio završetak gradnje, Pop.
07:32
No, he never saw this.
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Ne, nikada nije vidio ovo.
07:57
ShamsulShamsul WaresRoba: It was almostskoro impossiblenemoguće, buildingzgrada for a countryzemlja like oursnaša.
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Shamsul Wares: Bilo je gotovo nemoguće, graditi za zemlju poput naše,
08:01
In 30, 50 yearsgodina back, it was nothing, only paddyriža fieldspolja,
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jer prije 50 godina, nije bilo ničega, samo rižina polja,
08:05
and sinceod we invitedpozvan him here,
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a kako smo ga pozvali ovamo,
08:08
he feltosjećala that he has got a responsibilityodgovornost.
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osjećao je kako ima odgovornost.
08:10
He wanted to be a MosesMojsije here, he gavedali us democracydemokratija.
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On je želio ovdje biti Mojsije, dao nam je demokraciju.
08:13
He is not a politicalpolitički man,
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On nije političar,
08:15
but in this guisepod krinkom he has givendan us
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ali pod tom krinkom nam je dao
08:17
the institutioninstitucija for democracydemokratija, from where we can riseustati.
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tu instituciju za demokraciju, iz koje se možemo uzdići.
08:20
In that way it is so relevantrelevantan.
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U tom smislu je jako važna.
08:24
He didn't carebriga for how much moneynovac this countryzemlja has,
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On nije mario koliko novca ova zemlja ima,
08:26
or whetherda li he would be ableu stanju to ever finishZavrši this buildingzgrada,
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ili hoće li ikada uspijeti završiti gradnju ove zgrade,
08:29
but somehownekako he has been ableu stanju to do it, buildizgraditi it, here.
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ali nekako mu je uspjelo, izgraditi je, ovdje.
08:32
And this is the largestnajveći projectprojekt he has got in here, the poorestnajsiromašnija countryzemlja in the worldsvijet.
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A ovo je najveći projekt koji je imao, upravo ovdje, u najsiromašnijoj zemlji svijeta.
08:37
NKNK: It costcijena him his life.
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NK: Stajala ga je života.
08:39
SWZAPAD: Yeah, he paidplaćen. He paidplaćen his life for this,
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SW: Da, platio je. Platio je životom za ovo,
08:42
and that is why he is great and we'lldobro rememberzapamtiti him.
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i upravo zato je on velik i mi ćemo ga se sjećati.
08:46
But he was alsotakođer humanljudski.
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Ali ujedno je bio čovjek,
08:48
Now his failureneuspjeh to satisfyzadovoljiti the familyobitelj life,
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sada njegov neuspjeh da zadovolji obiteljski život,
08:53
is an inevitableneizbježan associationasocijacija of great people.
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je bila neizbježna asocijacija velikih ljudi.
08:56
But I think his sonsin will understandrazumjeti this,
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Ali mislim kako će njegov sin to razumijeti,
08:59
and will have no senseosjećaj of grudgeneraspoloženje,
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i neće imati nikakvu zamjerku,
09:01
or senseosjećaj of beingbiće neglectedzanemaren, I think.
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ili osjećaj zanemarenosti, mislim.
09:04
He caredmario in a very differentdrugačiji mannerdržanje,
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On je mario na vrlo drugačiji način,
09:07
but it takes a lot of time to understandrazumjeti that.
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ali potrebno je mnogo vremena kako bi se to razumijelo.
09:09
In socialsocijalni aspectaspekt of his life
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U društvenom aspektu svog života,
09:13
he was just like a childdijete, he was not at all maturedsazrelo.
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on je bio poput djeteta, nije uopće sazrio.
09:15
He could not say no to anything,
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Nije mogao reći ne ničemu,
09:17
and that is why, that he cannotNe možete say no to things,
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i zato, zbog toga što nije mogao reći ne stvarima,
09:20
we got this buildingzgrada todaydanas.
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imamo ovu zgradu danas.
09:23
You see, only that way you can be ableu stanju to understandrazumjeti him.
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Vidite, samo na taj način, moći ćete ga razumijeti.
09:26
There is no other shortcutprečac,
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Ne postoji nijedan drugi prečac,
09:29
no other way to really understandrazumjeti him.
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niti jedan drugi način da ga se uistinu razumije.
09:32
But I think he has givendan us this buildingzgrada
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Ali mislim, kako nam je dao tu zgradu
09:40
and we feel all the time for him,
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i stalno imamo osjećaje prema njemu,
09:42
that's why, he has givendan love for us.
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zato jer je dao ljubav za nas.
09:45
He could not probablyvjerojatno give the right kindljubazan of love for you,
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Možda vama nije dao pravu vrstu ljubavi,
09:48
but for us, he has givendan the people the right kindljubazan of love,
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ali nama, dao je nama ljudima pravu vrstu ljubavi,
09:51
that is importantvažno.
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i to je važno.
09:53
You have to understandrazumjeti that.
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Morate shvatiti to.
09:55
He had an enormousogroman amountiznos of love,
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Imao je ogromnu količinu ljubavi,
09:57
he lovedvoljen everybodysvi.
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sve je volio.
09:59
To love everybodysvi, he sometimesponekad did not see
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Kako je sve volio, nekada nije primjetio
10:03
the very closestnajbliže onesone,
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svoje najbliže,
10:06
and that is inevitableneizbježan for menmuškarci of his staturestas.
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a to je neizbježno za ljude njegova ugleda.
10:15
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nathaniel Kahn - Filmmaker
Nathaniel Kahn is an Oscar- and Emmy-nominated maker of documentary films. His journey to understand his distant father -- the legendary modern architect Louis Kahn -- became the film "My Architect."

Why you should listen

The architect Louis Kahn was known for formally brilliant modern buildings, but his personal life was utterly baroque: married with one child, he had two other children by two other women. His only son, Nathaniel, met him rarely; Louis died when Nathaniel was only 11. Nathaniel grew up to become a playwright and documentary filmmaker -- he worked on such award-winning films as 1996's My Father's Garden and Canary of the Ocean

His 2002 film My Architect traveled the world to uncover the mysteries of his father, looking for clues in Louis Kahn's body of work, in his work relationships and his personal ones. It's a film with meaning to anyone who seeks to understand the relationship between art and love. After My Architect, Kahn directed the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated 2004 documentary Two Hands, about the pianist Leon Fleischer, and produced a mockumental look at the director M. Night Shyamalan.

More profile about the speaker
Nathaniel Kahn | Speaker | TED.com