At the time of his death of a heart attack in March of 1974, Louis Kahn, then 73, was widely considered one of the world’s most revered and influential modern architects, leaving behind landmark buildings like the Salk Institute in San Diego, the Yale University Center for British Art, Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, and the National Assembly Building in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

There was also Kahn’s Margaret Esherick House, completed in 1961, located at 204 Sunrise Lane in Chestnut Hill, one of nine houses designed by Kahn. The house was inducted into the Chestnut Hill Architectural Hall of Fame in 2015.

Working as Kahn’s aide on many of his much-admired architectural creations was Rafael Villamil, now 92, an acclaimed architect and artist in his own right who has lived in Chestnut Hill for 44 years. He lives with his wife, Victoria, in a spectacular, 3,500-square-foot cathedral-like structure that Villamil designed and took two years to build. Sunlight floods in through massive windows, and corridors snake around rooms with enough books to fill a library.

“Visitors say this is a fascinating place, but they wouldn’t necessarily want to live here,” said Victoria Villamil while showing this visitor around the house last week. (She is an author and soprano who has written books on opera and classical singing.)

In celebration of Latine/Hispanic Heritage Month, Community College of Philadelphia is currently presenting an exhibition honoring Rafael Villamil’s legacy through the end of October. Through his art and architectural work, Villamil, who was born in Puerto Rico, advanced a creative vision deeply rooted in Puerto Rican culture, history and identity.

This exhibition, co-curated by Villamil’s son, Andres, a musician, and Ariel Vasquez, recognizes the architect’s lasting contributions to the built environment and visual arts, inviting viewers to reflect on how a Philadelphia Puerto Rican perspective can influence spaces, images and communities.

(Andres went to Germantown Friends School with Nathaniel Kahn, son of Louis Kahn, who years later became the filmmaker of “My Architect,” a much-honored documentary about his father, who died when Benjamin was just 11. The Villamils also have a daughter, Marisol, who spent 10 years as the market manager for the Chestnut Hill Farmers Market.)

Some of the Philadelphia area buildings Villamil worked on include Cathedral Village in Upper Roxborough, the Arts Center at Germantown Academy, which won a gold medal for design excellence from the American Institute of Architects; the Yarnall Gymnasium at The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, the Shubert Theater in Center City, and an addition to Wesley Enhanced Living at Stapeley in Germantown.

“I came to Philadelphia in 1963 because I wanted to work with Louis Kahn,” Villamil said last week. “The first two times I came to Philadelphia to be interviewed with Louis Kahn, he said he didn’t need anybody. But after I moved to Philadelphia, he hired me. He was so giving of his time. I worked for him for six years and then went off on my own, but we remained close.”

During our conversation, Villamil seemed reserved at first, but once he got in gear, he was a verbal dynamo. In fact, in the book “Rafael Villamil Architecture, 1954-2024,” which features more than 400 pages of photos of the architect’s creations, Villamil is quoted as saying, “I too also suffer from Verborrhea, that generalized common disease of unbusy architects.”

“I was a demanding teacher [of architecture] at City College of New York in 1971 and [of sculpture] at Philadelphia College of Art in 1972 and 1973. I first came to the U.S. to study at Georgia Tech for two years [in 1954-56]. That was a disaster. The worst racism. I designed at least 10 to 15 buildings in Puerto Rico. I did not go to school in Puerto Rico for architecture, but I always loved designing.”

In addition to working with Louis Kahn, Villamil also worked closely with another 20th century giant, Henry Klumb, who had collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright. “Klumb was like a father to me,” Villamil said. “I worked all night copying his drawings, and he approved them. That was very rare. I loved him.”

In addition to his architecture, Villamil has also produced a mountain of superb art that has been exhibited at the Museum of the University of Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia Arts Council of the YM/YWHA, State University of New York Art Gallery, School of Visual Arts in New York City, and the Pan American Union Building in Washington, D.C.

“I had my first art show in 1961,” Villamil said. “It was a disaster. I used construction forms, unorthodox. Created controversy. I used panels to create spaces. That produced a lot of controversy, but Klumb liked it. We had mutual respect.”

For more information, Google Rafael Villamil. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.