Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal “Transparency: ‘space-time’ ‘simultane- in Inerpenatationsuporimpositon, porary areni fiers tke them, are ofen used as syn~ ‘onjns We are familia with their use and faraly 826s to analyze thelr appli Tosttomptto make affiient crite! nate ments of such approximate definitions pomaps pedantic, Noverieles, in Wie ar- tole pedantry wil De skeo i an atin to expose he loves of moaning with whieh the concept ef Wansparency hab become ‘According tothe dictionary deinen, the quality, oF stat, of being traneparent both a material condition Of an inlet! imperative, of our inner= tent demand tor that which shouldbe easly ‘elected, perfect evident, and Wee of Gasinulaton. Thus tne adjective tran ‘parent, by detting 8 purely physica ig hieance, by functioning es erica honorific, and in being dlgnied wih far from disagreeable moral overtones, be- comes a word which rom the ste ie loaded withthe poration of both mean Ing and misunderstanding A further lel of Interpretation —that of transparency ass condition 10 be die covered na work of artis acnirabiy Aotined by Gyoray Kepes in his Language ff Vision" one sees two or more figures foveriapping one another, and each of ham Claime for elt the common overapped part, then ono is contorted with a con- Nradicton of spatial dimensions. To resolve this contradiction one must aetume he presence of a new optical qual. The figures are endowed. with ansparency: ‘halls they ar abi to itorpenerat wit fut an optical destruction of each other. ‘Transparency howover implies moro man an optical characterise, it implos a Sroader spalial order. Transparency ‘means a simutansous perception of i ferent spatal locations. Space rot only fecedes But thetstes in a eontnvovs Sothity. The positon of the tarsperent {ures has equiwocal meaning a one soe each figure now asthe eeser now as tho furter one") By this definition, the wansparent cosses to be that which le perfectly clear and becomos Instead iat which e clearly am Biguous. Nor Is this meaning an entirely fnotorie one: when wo read (as wo 20 bite do) of "ranaparent overtapping planes, we constantly sense that rather more than a simple physical transparency ‘5 moved For instance, while Mohol-Nagy in tis Visfon in Motion continually refers t0 ‘wansparent collophane plastic transpar- ‘ney and moving light: and "Rubens a ‘ant transparent shadows’ @) a care reading of the book might suggest that for fim such ioral transparency i fton tur- ished with cenain allegorical qualites, Some superimpostions of form. Neholy tos us, vorcome space and time Tha tone. They vanspose nsigneant singu- lates into meaningtl compteities.he ttaneparent qual ofthe superimpocitions often suggest transparency of context as tell, revealing unroteea structural qua tis in the objet (8). And again. n eom- ‘monting on what he calls the manifold Word agglutinatons” of James Joyce, of the doyeean pun, Moholy finds thal thse are tho approach to the practical task of, bulding ups completeness trom intr locked units by an ingenious transparency of relationships (4). In other words, no ‘seams to have felt that. by @ process of Jislorton, recomposiion, and. double Grloncra, a linguistic tranaparaney te literary equivalent of Koper iterpet twatlon without optical destruction ~might be elected, and that whoever experiences ‘one of those Joyzean ‘aglutnations” wil frjoy the sensation of looking through frst pane of signiteance to eters yng behing i Therefor at the very beginning of anyenquiry into ransparency, a base distin» tion must be estalishod. Transparency ray be an Inherant gual of substance, fe Ina glass curtain wal or it may be an Inorant qualty of organization. One an, for thls reason, dlstingulsh betwoon @ It fal and a phenomena transparency (Our feting for itera transparency seems to cere from two sources! fom cublet pelning and trom what Is usualy doaig- fated a0 the machine aeshrli. Ou fe! ing tor phenomena! vaneparency probably etives rom cubist painting alone and & ‘xbist canvas of around 1011 or 1812 ‘would serve to ilutrate the pretence of both orders, oF levels, ofthe transparent ‘One may be skeptical of those too plausl= io explanations of cubism which Involve tha fsion of temporal an spat factors Ae Altea Barr tals us, Apolinate ine Voked the fourth dimension @ mate: phorical rather tan @ mathematical sense (3) and hore, rather than attompt the re Iaton of Minkowak fo lessee, ithae bean coneldered convenient to refer {0 some ‘what lose deputabosoutces of inspiration A late Cézanne such as the Mont Saint frontal viewpoint of the whole scane, 8 “suppression ofthe more obvious sioments ‘suggestive of doth and a resultant con- {racing of foreground, midciogrouna, ane Deckground Ino.a distinctly compresees poral max. Sources of light are def ‘te but various: and a further contampla- tion of he picture reveals a tipping forward ofthe objects in space, which ie asitod by te paitors use of opaque and con West color The center ofthe compos tions occupied bya rather dense gracing both ebique and rectiineer: ana this are, ‘apparent, is butessed and stabilzed by ‘1d which introduces &oerainpergherie Imerest Frontal, suppresion of dept, contract Ing of space, detntion of ight sources, tipping forward of objects, restrctes pa fe, cblque end rectlineer grids, and ropensition toward. peripherle develop: ment are all characteitics of ancien! Gabiem. In thse pictures, apart from the poling to pices and reassembly of ob ject, perhaps above all wa are conscious fa furher shrinkage of depth and an In- roasad emphasis whlch now awarded torte gra, We dlscover about this time a meshing together of two systems of coot- Ginaes. On te one hand, an erangement ft oblique and curved lines suggests & cerainsiagonal spatial recession. On the ‘ther, # teres of horizontal and vertical Tnes implies a contradictory statement of frortalty. Generaly speaking. th oblique ‘and curve lines possoss a cara natura Isle signifcancs, while. the rectiineer tones show a georetzing tendency whieh fares an a ressseton of tho picture Plane. Sot systems of coordinates pro- ide for the orientation of the figures si Imutaneousi in an extended space and on {painted surtace; while thai intersection, ‘hair overapping, their interlocking. and ‘hair buleing up into larger end fetus Ing contigurations permis the genes of ‘he typealy ambiguous cubist mot ‘As the observer datinguiahes between tho resultant planes, he may bocome pre ‘gressiely conscious of an opposion be tween certain areas of aminous paint ang tines ofa moradensa coloration. He may ‘Gatinglah between certain lanes 12 which he ls abot atrbute a physics ne {ure eled to that ot calli, others whose ‘essence is womiopague, and turer ar ‘of asubstance totally opposed to the trane- mission of ight And he may dacover that {lof thse planos, vansiucent or of wise, and regeraiess of thai roprosanta- Hlonal-content, ere impliceted in the Denomenon which Kepes nes sete as transparency.“The double nature of taneparency may be IMustrated by te comparson and analysis ‘ofa somewhat atypical Picasso, The Care hot Piayor (Fig 2). and a representative Braque, The Portuguese (Fig 3), in each ‘of which a pyramidal orm impli an ‘ge Picasso datngs his prams by moans of 8 strong contour: ‘contour is 80 font of Is background that the bsewer has some senee of postvly figure standing Ina relatively deep space land only subsequenty does he redefine {his sentation to allow tor the actual ack ‘of dopth. With Braque the reading of the picture folows a reverse order. A highiy Geveloped interlacing of horiaantal and vortcalgridcing, created by gapped tines ‘and intruing planes, establishes 2 pr- manly ahallow apace, and only gradually Inve observer tble to invest te spece ‘with a dopth which permite the igure 12 {Assume substance. Braque offers the pos- ‘Silty ofan independent reading of igure ‘and gre: Pleasso scarcely des so Pleas: 0's gid i rathor subeumed lithin his {igure or appears as form of peripheral Ineisent introduced to stabilize In the first wo may receive a provision of Iterat wanaperenay, and in the other of phenomenal vansparency: and the. ev once of thse two distinct atitudes wil become much clearer ita comparison ie jtamptod between tho works of (wo Signy tater painters, Robert Deteunay ‘and Juan Gri Delaunay’ Simultaneous Windows of 1811 ‘ang Gra Si Lite of 1012 (Figs 4 8) both Include objects thet are presumatiytrans- parent the one windows, the cher bation. Mitte Gris eupprenses the physical rane: pereney of gla in favor oft raneparoncy (of gridding, Oslaunay accepts with unre- rleted enthusiasm the elusivey reflective Qualities of his superimposed ‘glazed ‘Openings. Gris weaves a ayetem of ob Nigue and perpendiculr lines into some sort of corrugated sallow space; and in the architectonic tradition of Cézanne, forder to amity both nis objects and Structure, he abaumes varied but gets Tight sources. Delaunay’s preoecupation with form presupposes an entirely itr: tnt attitude, Forms iohin-e.g fo block Of buildings and various naturalistic ob- Jsots reminiscent of the Eifel Tower—are Fothing but rellections and reactions of Tight which he presents in terms analogous to eublt grading. Bul despite this geom- ‘tring of image, the generally ethereal ature‘ both Dolaunay’s forms and his Space appears more characteritic of in pressioniom. and this vesemblance ta furtner reinforced by the manne in which he utes his medium, In contrast Yo the tat, planar areas of opaque and almost monochromatic color which Gris inveats ‘with such igh tactile value, Delaunay om phasizes @ quashimpressionisticcaligr hy: and. while Gre. proves explicit Sotintion of a rear plane, Delaunay dis- ‘soWves the possilis of so distinct a Closure otis space. Gris rear pane func> ‘ions 8 a eatayst which loealzes the ‘nbigullos of hie pictorial objects and on- ‘Genders ther fsctusting values. Colas ‘y's distaste for so specie a procedure loaves the latent ambigutlas of his form fexpored. without reforonce, unresolved Both operations might be recognized as attmpts to elucidate te intricacy of ane Iyical cubism: but where Gre seams 10 ‘hve intonsied some of the characters: tics of cubist space and fo have imbued Its plaste principles with a now bravurs, Dolaunay has been Ted to explore the poetical overtone of cubism by divorcing {hem from tie metal syntax, Wen something of the attude of a De launay becomes fused with a machine aesthetic omphasis upon physical Substance and stlfened by a coral on ‘husiasm for simple planar stuctures, then oral tansparency, Becomes. compiat: and it ean perhaps be most appropriately stated bythe work of Moholy. Nagy” In his Abstract ofan Artist Maholy Nagy tolls te that around 1821 his "ranaperent paintlly froed trom al loments rominizcent of nature, and 10 {cto him directly: | s0o today that this was the logical result ofthe cubist pant Ings had aamiingly sti (6). Now whether a freedom from al elements Fominiscont of nature may be considered 2 logical continuation of cubiom 18 not javant to ths prosont clscussion: but lahethor Moboly id Indeed succond In ‘emptying his wer ofall naturalistic oon: tent i of some Importance, and hs soem Ing bolt that cublam had ponted the way toward a freeing of forms may justly the fnalyla of one of hie subsequent works fand iis comperison with enotor post abit painting Motoly's La Serraz of 1650 (Fig) might reasonably be compared with ‘a Fernand Légor of 1928: The Thrae Faces ran In La Sarraz tv crcl connectod by an ‘Scehaped and, two sets of trapezoidal lanes of transivcent color, @ number of Fear horizontal and veral bars bers ‘Spettering of light and dark Macks, and a umber of slighty convergent dashes are A impoted upon a black background. In ‘Thrae Faces three major ares depleying organic forms, abstracted arifacs, end purely boretic shapes are tied together By horzontal Banging end commen con- tour In contrast to Mehl, Logor aligns hie pictorial objcte a sight angle to each ‘other and to the edger of fis picture Plane; ne provides these objects with a ‘at, opaque coloring: and he sets up & ‘iguregreund reading trough the com pressed dlaposion ofthese highly con Ivotted srtaces. While Monoly seems to have fing open window on 10 some private version of outer space, Léger, ‘working wihin an almost two mensional ‘toheme, achlavea a maximum clay of both "naga" and ‘postive’ forma By means of reatiton, Léger's plete be- ‘comes charged with an equivocal depth reading. with a valve singular reminis- Cont of hat to whlch Moholy was so sensi- tive nthe writings of Joyo, and which a spite o the postive physical ransparency Of hls pain, Moholy mga hes Boon une fable to action For inspite of is moderily of mati, Mo- holy’ petro sll shows the conventional precwbit foreground, middleground, and background; and in spite of a rather Casual interweaving ‘of surface and the ‘laments introduced to destoy the loge {1 is deop apace, Maholy’s picture can be submitted to only one reading (On tho other hand, through the refined Virtuonty wth which Ne assembles post Cubist constituents, Fernand Leger makes completly plain tho multtunctoned box havior of cosy defined form. Through at planes, tough an absonce of volume Suggeting is presence, through the Im Dlleaton rather than the fact ot @ gtd {hrough an iterupied checkerboard pet. tom alimulated by cole, proxmiy, end crate superimposition, Lager loads ho tye 1 experiance an inexhaustible scios Oo larger and smaller organizations within the whole. Légors concern is with the structure of form, Moho’ with materials land ight Moholy has accepted the cubist figure but hes ited Hout ofits epatal ‘matrix; Léger nes proserved and oven Io- tensiied the typically cubist tension be twoon figure and space. ‘These tree comparisons may clarity some of tho basic diferences betwoon tera and phenomenal transparency inthe Dining of the lat tity yoare, Literal transparency, we notice, lands to be sociated with the tompe Foal lect of @ translucent object in & Seep, naturale space; while phenomenal transparency Sooms tobe found when 2 paintarsooks ‘the articulated presentation of frontal splayed objocts ina shalow, abstracted space In considering architectural rether than Plcleriel vaneperences, inevitable confu- Sons aris for while painting can only Imply the thd dimension, architecture7 agar Te Thee cee cant suppress it. Provided wih the rex lly rather than the eounteret of treo ‘imansina, architecture eral ane pereney can Become a physical fact How ‘ver, phenomenal tenspareney wil, for this Yeason, be more dificult 1 achieve: land tie ndoed 6 sificut to dgcass that ‘generally ortics have been wiling 10 98° Soelate tansparoncy in archlioctura -Sluslvaly wit a transparency of material. ‘Thus Gyorgy Kopes, having provided an almost classical expianation of {ostations wo have notices in Braque, Gis ound a tho material qualtis of glas and plastics, and that tho equvaent of thelr are calculated compositions wil ba ‘iscovered inthe haphazard superimposi- tone produced by th rellctons and ac- ‘dene of ight playing upon a wanslacont x polished surace (7). And sili. ‘Slegtied Giedion seems to assume that ‘he presence of an all aus wall st the Bauhaus, with ‘te extensive transparent ‘rons: permits the hovering relations of Planes and he kindof overlapping’ which ‘appears in contemporary pairing’ and he proceeds to reinioroe this suggestion with {quotation frm Alfred Barron the char~ Sctoratc "wancparancy of overlapping planes in analytical cubism (8. In Pieasso's L'Aieslonne, th picture thet, provides the visual support or these ine ferences, such a taneparency of overian- ping planes le very obviouly to bo foun ‘There Picaso offers planes apparent of Calli, nreugh wnich tho observer has {he sensation of looking, and in dong s, ‘no doubt his sonsatons are. somewhat Similar to those ofa hypothotica observ {of the workshop wing atthe Bavhaus In ‘ach case a ansparoncy of materials & ‘scovered But nthe laterally constuctes Space of his plete, Picesso hough the compilation of larger and smaller forms, ‘ottors the limitless possibile of allerna- tive roacings, wha Ihe gs Bauhaus, an urambiguovs spac tobe singuiary roo ofthis quality (Fg 8). Thus, fr vidence of what we have desi- rated phenomenal transparency. we shall be obliged 1a look elsewhere Le Corbusier vila at Garches, almost fontamporary. withthe Banaue, might ly be jotaposed with it. Supertialy the garden fagade at tis house (Fig 9) tnd the elevations ofthe workshop sing atthe Bauhaus are not sasimiar Bot on ploy cantlevered Noor slabs, and both dis Play 2 recessed ground floor. Nether Smite an interuption of the hovzontal Imovement ofthe glazing, and bath make point of carrying the glazing ound he ‘omer, But naw similares cease. From era on, one might say that Lo Corbusior |sprimary occupied wth he planar qual- tise of glass and Gropius wits te trans ‘Meant attsbutes, Le” Corbusier, by the introduction of wal sutace most equal in neight to his glazing divisions, tiene his lass plane and provides 1 with an ‘overall srtace tension, whila. Gropiit Dorit his translucent surface the ape lance of hanging rather loosely fom @ fascia whicn protrudes somowhet ithe fashion of a curtan box. At Garenes we ‘can enjoy the sensation tat possibly the Traming of he windows pesses behing the wall surface: at the Bauhaus since we are Is pressing p Behind the window, we are not enabled to Indulge In such specu tone [At Garches the ground ie conceliod of 26 8 verteal urtace traversed by @ horizon {al range of windows; at the Bauhaus its ‘Wen the appearance of @ sold wall x. tensive punctured by glazing. at Garches i oftare an expt ineestion of he fame ‘Bauhaus t shows somewhat stubby piers vanich one dose not automaticaly connect With the idea of skaloton attire, In this workshop wing of the Bauhaus one might say thet Gropius io absorbed wit the idea of esteishing ph upon which fo dispove an esrangement of nor onal planes, and that is principal com4 saunas comer atthe wonsnop wig com appears to be the wish that two of ‘hore planes should be seen through 8 vol of glass. But glass would harly seom to have held such fascination for Le Cor. busier; and although one can obvieusly 00 through his windows, snot precisely here that he transparency of hie bulging fat be found [At Garchos the recessed surtace of the ‘found flor Is redeined on tho root by the two freestanding walls whieh tort fate the terace! and the ame statement depth i akan up inthe sie stevaions By the glazed doors whieh act ag conclo: sons to the fenestration. In these ways rmodiatoly behing his glazing there harrow slot of space traveling paral! to and of course, In consequence ofthis, bho impli turer idee—thst bounding this slot of space, and behind it, thee es 2 plane of which the ground floor, the freestanding walls, and the inner revesls ofthe doors all form a part and ethough this plane may bo dismissed as very ob Vowsiy 8 conceptual convenience rather ‘than a physical fact. ts tusive presence Ie undeniable. Recognizing the physical planaof glass and concrete an this mage fhery (hough scarcely lees ral) plane that les behind we become aware that here a transparency Is effected not through the agency af a window but rather through ur being made conscious of pri- mary concepts which ntoponetate with (ut optical destruction ofeach other” These two planes ae not al; a third and ‘equally sisinet parallel surace Is both Invodced and implied I etines the rear wal of the terrace and the penthouse, ‘2nd Is further rateated by oer parla ‘opt cota more Parisian conclusions. For seemingly i was in Paris that the cubist “discovery” of shallow space was Most compietely expoited, and it was ‘hore thatthe ate f the picture plane a6 2 unlormiy sctivated fed was most one traly undorstoos. With Passo, BraqueGis, Lager. and Ozontant wo are never conscious af the plture plane functioning In any passive rola. Goth it, as negative pace, andthe jects placed upon it 38 poste space, are endowed wih an equal ‘apacity to stimulate. Outside te Ecole de risthls condition snot pica, although Monarin, a Parisian by adoption, const tutes ono major exception and Kio ‘other Buta glance at any representative ‘work of Kandinsky, Malevich, €! Leste, ‘or Van Doesburg wil reve that these Painters, lika Monoly, scarcely fot the necessity of providing any dstnct spatial Imate for thie principal objects Toy a prone to accept a simplifeaton of the ubist image as @ composition of geomet: "eal planes, but are apt to reoct the com arabe cubist abstraction of space, For {hore reasons thelr pltures offer Us com: posltons which leat in an intinte, atmos perc, naturalistic voi, witout any of the fion Parsian sratiieaton of volume. And the Bauhaus may bo accepied as ‘heir benitectoralequnalont, ‘Thus in the Bauhaus compe, though we are presented mith a composition of sia: tke butings whose forme suggest the possiblity ofa reading of space by ayers, wwoare scarcely conscious ofthe pesance ‘of spt strattiaton. Through the move fonts of the dormitory building, the a ministrative offices, and the workshop Wing, the fst oor may suggest a chan nelng of space in one direction. Through the countermovorent of rosdway. class ‘oom, and audtonum wing, the groune ‘oor suggests « movement of space n the otter. A preference for nether dretion s Stated, end the ensuing alismma is re by aling pronty to ciagonal pointe of Much 88 Van Doosburg and Moboly os chowed trntaity, 30 aid Gropive: and it Ie signitcant tat, while. tho published photographs of Garchs tend to minimize factors of diagonal recession, almost in arab the published photographs ofthe Bauhaus end to play up just such factors. ‘The importance f hase dlagonal views of tha Bauhaus is constantly reaserted=y ‘he translucent comer of the woreehop wing andby such features asthe balconies ofthe dormitory end the protruding sab tver the entence tothe worshops, fea. {ures whien requ for teir understand ing @ renunciation of the principe. ot trontly Tho Bauhaus reveals « succession of spaces but scarcely ‘a contradiction of spatal dimensions” Relying on the dago- ‘al iowpeint, Gopius has exterorzed the ‘opposed movements of hs apace, has a owed them to ow away into itn: ane by being unwiting to atiibue to either of them any signifeant difrence of gual, he has prohited he pessbiibes ot «po tential ambiguity. Thus only the contoure his books assume a ayorike character: suggest a lnyoriko structure of ether in tomal or extemal space, Denied the poss- Dilly of ‘penetrating a station. space which is defined either by rea panes oF {hair maginary projection. the observers also donied the possibly of experiencing the confict between a space which I ot pelt and another which ie implied. He ‘mayen te sensation of loking through 4 ola wall and thus perhaps be able to fen the exeror and the interior of the Sulaing simuttaneousy: but dong 20 he willbe conscious of few of those equiva Sensations which derive Irom phenomenal ‘ranspareney Le Corbusier League of Nations project of 1827, tke the Bauhaus, possesses het- ‘rogenous elements and functions that Toad te en extended organization, and to the appearance of further feature which both Buildings have in commen: the na row block” But here ageln similares ease, for while the Baunaue Blocks pine lanes! in'@ manner highly suggestive of Constrectist compositions inthe League | ELT 0 ea tL rr‘of Nations these same long blocks dating {system of stations almost more rig than that at Garehes In the League of Nations project tateral extension eharacterios the two principal wings of the Secretariat, qualifies the Torary and Booksteck area, ss re-omph ‘920d By the anance quay and the foyer of the General Assembly Bullding, ana Gominatee ven the. auditorium eel, ‘There the introduction ot gazing along the side wal, sisturting the normal focus ofthe hal upon the presidential ox, in froduces the same transverse direction ‘The contrary statement of daep space aso becomes hight asserive proposion itis ehietysuggestos by a lozenge shape \whose main axis passes through te Gen fra! Assembly Bulding and whose autine Is comprsed by a projection ofthe au torlum volume ito the approach roads of ta cour sronneur (Fig 18) But egal ‘96 at Garches, te Intmatons of depth inherent in this form are consistent re- acted. A cul. a dsplacoment, anda siding sideways occur long the ine of [ae major ast and a8 a space, itt ro= peatodl scored though and broken down maa series of latral references—by ‘tees, by cioulatons, by te momentum ‘ofthe bullaings thomsolves—so that tinal trough a series of postive and negative Implications, the whole scheme becomes ‘sort of monumental debate, an argument bbenweon a rea! and ideal space Wie wil presume th Palace ofthe League cf Nations as having boon bull and an febsener following the wal approach to Is euttoriam, Necessary he subjected to the polar atracton of ia principal fnvance. But th Block of tees whieh in tersecis nis vison Intoauces tera! deflection of interest 0 that he becomes successively aware, tra, of a relation be: tween the flanking oie. Sulding and the foreground partere, and second. of @ relation between the crosswalk and the Courtyard af the Secretariat. And. once ‘within the trees, beneath the fw umbrella they provide, 8 further Yansion le estab- lished: the space, which fs Infected te ward the auaiorim, is defined by, and Feads a8, a projection of the book stack ‘and orary. While finaly, it te ase {ings himeett standing on a low torrace, ‘onironting the enrance quay but sepa Fated trom itby an of space 20 comple that ifs only by the propulsive power of the walk Bohind him that he an be en abled to cross I With is arc of vision to longer esc, ne is now offered the Goneral Assembly Bulsng In its tll ox tont: but since a newly revealed lack of ‘ocus compats his oye to sie along hit facade, itis. again irevievably drawn sideways, to the view of the gardens and the lke beyond. And should the ebserver {urn rund trom this rf betwpen him an his obvious goal, and should he look st the trees whieh he has just lt, the aleral sling ofthe space will only Become more determined, emphasized by the. toe thomseives and the cross alley leading Into the sloted indenture alongside the book slack I te observer eva man of rmodereto sophistication, and fhe pere- Ing of s sereen 0: a volume of trees By 3 road might heve come to suggest fo hin {hat te inns furotion ofthis 04d fe to penetrate similar volumes and screens, ‘men by Inference the terace on which he is standing Becomes nota prelude #2 the aucitoriom, ae He axial rlatonsip suggests, but a projection of the volumes land planes ot the office bullding with when tf llgned, “These sraiicaons, devices by means ot hich space becomes constucted, sub> anal and atcuate, ara th eseence ot ‘hat phenomenal wanspaveney which hat boon noticed ae characters of he con tral posteubst traction, They have never een noticed as characteristic ofthe Bau haus, which obviously manifests a com pletely ferent conception of space. In the League of Nations project Le Cor busier provides the absower with eoies ‘of quite spect locations nthe Bauhaushe is without such points of roternce. ‘though the League of Nations project Isextensvely glazed, euch glazing, excent ine auditorium, i scereely of capital Importance. At the Palace of the League ft Nations, comers and anges are a tive and definite, At tha Bauhaus, lesion tells vs, they are "domatriies. At the Palace of te League of Nations space Is crystaline; but atthe Bauhaus tis glazing lahicn gives the buldng a. “rystaline ttanslucence” At the Palace of ho League fof Nations glass provides surface a Sette and autos th top of @ rum; but at the Bauhaus, lass walls ow into one fnotner blend into each other” wrap sound the building." ana in otter ways (by acting as the absence of plane) ‘com tribute to that process of loosening op 3 buling wich now cominates tho arch tecturalseane' we [ook in vin fr “losening up" in the Palace of the League of Nations. It shows no evidence of any desire te obit trate sharp distinction. Le Corbusier's planes are ik knives for the apportonate Slicing of space. we could abut to pace the quater of water, then Nis Dulcing i ko a dam by means of which Space is contained, embanked, tunnled, fluices, and finaly piled into the in formal gardans alongside the lake. By contrast the Bauhave, nalated in a of amorphic outing, et washed by a placid tse, The foregoing discussion has sought to clarity tha spatial mill In which phenom. ‘onal transparency becomes possibia. It nal vaneparency (for a ia cubist ‘Seont is anecessary constituent of modern aphitecture, nor that fe presence might be used tke @ piove of Itmus paper for the toot of architectural orhodony. Is Immondee simply to give a charactarzstion Of species and also to warn against the Confusion of species, reef gently 1 Gyorgy Kepes: Language of Vision 2 Monaly:Nagy: Vision in tion, Ch cago 1947 pp 18, 194, 189,87 2 Mohoiy-Nagy:op cirp 210, 44 Monoty-vsay:0p ip 350, 5. Aired Barr Picasso" Fy Years of His ‘rt New York 146: p68 8 Moholy-Nagy: The New Vision and Ab tract oan Arte, New York 967-975, 7 Gyorgy Kepes: ope 8 Siege Giesion: Space, Time. and ‘Architecture, Camondge, Mass. 1054 aot andp 400 9. Slagred Gladion: op cit p 49; ans Glecion: Waller’ Gropius, New York 1954: 00 5435,