Yale University, School of Architecture

Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal

Author(s): Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky
Source: Perspecta, Vol. 8 (1963), pp. 45-54
Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of Perspecta.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1566901
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 Colin Rowe

and Robert Slutzky

Transparency:

Literal and Phenomenal

'Transparency,' 'space-time,' 'simultane- defined by Gyorgy Kepes in his Language 'transparent cellophane plastic,' 'transpar-

ity,' 'interpenetration,' 'superimposition,' of Vision: 'If one sees two or more figures ency and moving light,' and 'Rubens's ra-

'ambivalence': in the literature of contem- overlapping one another, and each of them diant transparent shadows' (2), a careful

porary architecture these words, and claims for itself the common overlapped reading of the book might suggest that for

others like them, are often used as syn- part, then one is confronted with a con- him such literal transparency is often fur-

onyms. We are familiar with their use and tradiction of spatial dimensions. To resolve nished with certain allegorical qualities.

rarely seek to analyze their application. this contradiction one must assume the Some superimpositions of form, Moholy

To attempt to make efficient critical instru- presence of a new optical quality. The tells us, 'overcome space and time fixa-

ments of such approximate definitions is figures are endowed with transparency; tions. They transpose insignificant singu-

perhaps pedantic. Nevertheless, in this ar- that is they are able to interpenetrate with- larities into meaningful complexities...The

ticle pedantry will be risked in an attempt out an optical destruction of each other. transparent quality of the superimpositions

to expose the levels of meaning with which Transparency however implies more than often suggest transparency of context as

the concept of transparency has become an optical characteristic, it implies a well, revealing unnoticed structural quali-

endowed. broader spatial order. Transparency ties in the object' (3). And again, in com-

means a simultaneous perception of dif- menting on what he calls 'the manifold

According to the dictionary definition, the

ferent spatial locations. Space not only word agglutinations' of James Joyce, or

quality, or state, of being transparent is

recedes but fluctuates in a continuous the Joycean pun, Moholy finds that these

both a material condition-that of being

activity. The position of the transparent are 'the approach to the practical task of

pervious to light and air-and the result

figures has equivocal meaning as one sees building up a completeness from inter-

of an intellectual imperative, of our inher-

45

each figure now as the closer now as the locked units by an ingenious transparency

ent demand for that which should be easily

further one' (1). of relationships' (4). In other words, he

detected, perfectly evident, and free of

seems to have felt that, by a process of

dissimulation. Thus the adjective trans- By this definition, the transparent ceases

distortion, recomposition, and double-

parent, by defining a purely physical sig- to be that which is perfectly clear and

entendre, a linguistic transparency-the

nificance, by functioning as a critical becomes instead that which is clearly am-

literary equivalent of Kepes' 'interpene-

honorific, and in being dignified with far biguous. Nor is this meaning an entirely

tration without optical destruction'-might

from disagreeable moral overtones, be- esoteric one; when we read (as we so

be effected, and that whoever experiences

comes a word which from the first is richly often do) of 'transparent overlapping

one of these Joycean 'agglutinations' will

loaded with the possibilities of both mean- planes,' we constantly sense that rather

enjoy the sensation of looking through a

ing and misunderstanding. more than a simple physical transparency

first plane of significance to others lying

is involved.

A further level of interpretation-that of

behind it.

transparency as a condition to be dis- For instance, while Moholy-Nagy in his

covered in a work of art-is admirably Vision in Motion continually refers to Therefore, at the very beginning of any

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 1 C6zanne: Mont Sainte-Victoire

enquiry into transparency, a basic distinc- frontal viewpoint of the whole scene, a certain diagonal spatial recession. On the

tion must be established. Transparency suppression of the more obvious elements other, a series of horizontal and vertical

may be an inherent quality of substance, suggestive of depth, and a resultant con- lines implies a contradictory statement of

as in a glass curtain wall; or it may be an tracting of foreground, middleground, and frontality. Generally speaking, the oblique

inherent quality of organization. One can, background into a distinctly compressed and curved lines possess a certain natural-

for this reason, distinguish between a lit- pictorial matrix. Sources of light are defi- istic significance, while the rectilinear

eral and a phenomenal transparency. nite but various; and a further contempla- ones show a geometrizing tendency which

tion of the picture reveals a tipping forward serves as a reassertion of the picture

Our feeling for literal transparency seems

of the objects in space, which is assisted plane. Both systems of coordinates pro-

to derive from two sources: from cubist

by the painter's use of opaque and con- vide for the orientation of the figures si-

painting and from what is usually desig-

trasted color. The center of the composi- multaneously in an extended space and on

nated as the machine aesthetic. Our feel-

tion is occupied by a rather dense gridding a painted surface; while their intersection,

ing for phenomenal transparency probably

both oblique and rectilinear; and this area, their overlapping, their interlocking, and

derives from cubist painting alone; and a

apparently, is buttressed and stabilized by their building up into larger and fluctuat-

cubist canvas of around 1911 or 1912

a more insistent horizontal and vertical ing configurations permits the genesis of

would serve to illustrate the presence of

grid which introduces a certain peripheric the typically ambiguous cubist motif.

both orders, or levels, of the transparent.

interest.

As the observer distinguishes between all

One may be skeptical of those too plausi-

Frontality, suppression of depth, contract- the resultant planes, he may become pro-

ble explanations of cubism which involve

ing of space, definition of light sources, gressively conscious of an opposition be-

the fusion of temporal and spatial factors.

tipping forward of objects, restricted pal- tween certain areas of luminous paint and

As Alfred Barr tells us, Apollinaire 'in-

ette, oblique and rectilinear grids, and others of a more dense coloration. He may

46
voked the fourth dimension... in a meta-

propensities toward peripheric develop- distinguish between certain planes to

phorical rather than a mathematical sense

ment are all characteristics of analytical which he is able to attribute a physical na-

(5); and here, rather than attempt the re-

cubism. In these pictures, apart from the ture allied to that of celluloid, others whose

lation of Minkowski to Picasso, it has been

pulling to pieces and reassembly of ob- essence is semiopaque, and further areas

considered convenient to refer to some-

jects, perhaps above all we are conscious of a substance totally opposed to the trans-

what less disputable sources of inspiration.

of a further shrinkage of depth and an in- mission of light. And he may discover that

A late Cezanne such as the Mont Sainte-

creased emphasis which is now awarded all of these planes, translucent or other-

Victoire of 1904-06 (Fig 1) in the Philadel- to the grid. We discover about this time a wise, and regardless of their representa-

phia Museum of Art is characterized by meshing together of two systems of coor- tional content, are implicated in the

certain extreme simplifications. There

dinates. On the one hand, an arrangement phenomenon which Kepes has defined as

is a highly developed insistence on a of oblique and curved lines suggests a transparency.

I II

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 2 Picasso: The Clarinet Player 3 Braque: The Portuguese

The double nature of transparency may be

become much clearer if a comparison is flat, planar areas of opaque and almost

illustrated by the comparison and analysis attempted between the works of two monochromatic color which Gris invests

of a somewhat atypical Picasso, The Clari- slightly later painters, Robert Delaunay with such high tactile value, Delaunay em-

net Player (Fig 2), and a representative

and Juan Gris. phasizes a quasi-impressionistic calligra-

Braque, The Portuguese (Fig 3), in each

phy; and while Gris provides explicit
Delaunay's Simultaneous Windows of 1911

of which a pyramidal form implies an im-

definition of a rear plane, Delaunay dis-
and Gris' Still Life of 1912 (Figs 4, 5) both

age. Picasso defines his pyramid by means

solves the possibilities of so distinct a
include objects that are presumably trans-

of a strong contour; Braque uses a more

closure of his space. Gris' rear plane func-
parent, the one windows, the other bottles.

complicated inference. Thus Picasso's

tions as a catalyst which localizes the
While Gris suppresses the physical trans-

contour is so assertive and so independ-

ambiguities of his pictorial objects and en-
parency of glass in favor of a transparency

ent of its background that the observer

genders their fluctuating values. Delau-
of gridding, Delaunay accepts with unre-

has some sense of a positively transparent

nay's distaste for so specific a procedure
stricted enthusiasm the elusively reflective

figure standing in a relatively deep space, leaves the latent ambiguities of his form

qualities of his superimposed 'glazed

and only subsequently does he redefine exposed, without reference, unresolved.

openings.' Gris weaves a system of ob-

this sensation to allow for the actual lack

Both operations might be recognized as

lique and perpendicular lines into some

of depth. With Braque the reading of the

attempts to elucidate the intricacy of ana-

sort of corrugated shallow space; and in

picture follows a reverse order. A highly

lytical cubism; but where Gris seems to

the architectonic tradition of Cezanne, in

developed interlacing of horizontal and have intensified some of the characteris-

order to amplify both his objects and

vertical gridding, created by gapped lines

tics of cubist space and to have imbued

structure, he assumes varied but definite

and intruding planes, establishes a pri-

its plastic principles with a new bravura,

light sources. Delaunay's preoccupation

marily shallow space, and only gradually

Delaunay has been led to explore the

with form presupposes an entirely differ-

is the observer able to invest this space

poetical overtones of cubism by divorcing

ent attitude. Forms to him-e.g. a low block

47 with a depth which permits the figure to them from their metrical syntax.

of buildings and various naturalistic ob-

assume substance. Braque offers the pos-

jects reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower-are When something of the attitude of a De-

sibility of an independent reading of figure

nothing but reflections and refractions of launay becomes fused with a machine-

and grid: Picasso scarcely does so. Picas-

light which he presents in terms analogous aesthetic emphasis upon physical

so's grid is rather subsumed within his

to cubist gridding. But despite this geom- substance and stiffened by a certain en-

figure or appears as a form of peripheral

etrizing of image, the generally ethereal thusiasm for simple planar structures, then

incident introduced to stabilize it.

nature of both Delaunay's forms and his literal transparency becomes complete;

In the first we may receive a pre-vision of

space appears more characteristic of im- and it can perhaps be most appropriately

literal transparency, and in the other, of

pressionism, and this resemblance is illustrated by the work of Moholy-Nagy. In

phenomenal transparency; and the evi- further reinforced by the manner in which his Abstract of an Artist Moholy-Nagy tells

dence of these two distinct attitudes will he uses his medium. In contrast to the us that around 1921 his 'transparent paint-

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4 Delaunay: Simultaneous Windows 5 Gris: Still Life

ings' became completely freed from all his pictorial objects at right angles to each havior of clearly defined form. Through flat

elements reminiscent of nature, and to other and to the edges of his picture planes, through an absence of volume

quote him directly: 'I see today that this plane; he provides these objects with a suggesting its presence, through the im-

was the logical result of the cubist paint- flat, opaque coloring; and he sets up a plication rather than the fact of a grid,

ings I had admiringly studied' (6). figure-ground reading through the com- through an interrupted checkerboard pat-

pressed disposition of these highly con- tern stimulated by color, proximity, and

Now whether a freedom from all elements

trasted surfaces. While Moholy seems to discrete superimposition, Leger leads the

reminiscent of nature may be considered

have flung open a window on to some eye to experience an inexhaustible series

a logical continuation of cubism is not

private version of outer space, Leger, of larger and smaller organizations within

relevant to this present discussion; but

working within an almost two dimensional the whole. Leger's concern is with the

whether Moholy did indeed succeed in

scheme, achieves a maximum clarity of structure of form, Moholy's with materials

emptying his work of all naturalistic con-

both 'negative' and 'positive' forms. By and light. Moholy has accepted the cubist

tent is of some importance, and his seem-

means of restriction, Leger's picture be- figure but has lifted it out of its spatial

ing belief that cubism had pointed the way

comes charged with an equivocal depth matrix; Leger has preserved and even in-

toward a freeing of forms may justify the

reading, with a value singularly reminis- tensified the typically cubist tension be-

analysis of one of his subsequent works

cent of that to which Moholy was so sensi- tween figure and space.

and its comparison with another post-

tive in the writings of Joyce, and which, in

cubist painting. Moholy's La Sarraz of 1930 These three comparisons may clarify

spite of the positive physical transparency

(Fig 6) might reasonably be compared with some of the basic differences between

of his paint, Moholy himself has been un-

a Fernand Leger of 1926: The Three Faces literal and phenomenal transparency in the

able to achieve.

(Fig 7) painting of the last fifty years. Literal

For in spite of its modernity of motif, Mo- transparency, we notice, tends to be as-

In La Sarraz five circles connected by an

holy's picture still shows the conventional sociated with the trompe I'oeil effect of a

S-shaped band, two sets of trapezoidal

48

precubist foreground, middleground, and translucent object in a deep, naturalistic

planes of translucent color, a number of

background; and in spite of a rather space; while phenomenal transparency

near horizontal and vertical bars, a liberal

casual interweaving of surface and the seems to be found when a painter seeks

splattering of light and dark flecks, and a

elements introduced to destroy the logic the articulated presentation of frontally

number of slightly convergent dashes are

of this deep space, Moholy's picture can displayed objects in a shallow, abstracted

all imposed upon a black background. In

be submitted to only one reading. space.

Three Faces three major areas displaying

organic forms, abstracted artifacts, and On the other hand, through the refined In considering architectural rather than

purely geometric shapes are tied together virtuosity with which he assembles post- pictorial transparencies, inevitable confu-

by horizontal banding and common con- cubist constituents, Fernand L6ger makes sions arise; for while painting can only

tour. In contrast to Moholy, L6ger aligns completely plain the multifunctioned be- imply the third dimension, architecture

III_

III

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 6 Moholy-Nagy: La Sarraz
7 L6ger: The Three Faces

cannot suppress it. Provided with the re- provides the visual support for these in- is primarily occupied with the planar quali-

ality rather than the counterfeit of three ferences, such a transparency of overlap- ties of glass and Gropius with its trans-

dimensions, in architecture literal trans- ping planes is very obviously to be found. lucent attributes. Le Corbusier, by the

parency can become a physical fact. How- There Picasso offers planes apparently of introduction of a wall surface almost equal

ever, phenomenal transparency will, for Celluloid, through which the observer has in height to his glazing divisions, stiffens

this reason, be more difficult to achieve; the sensation of looking; and in doing so, his glass plane and provides it with an

and it is indeed so difficult to discuss that no doubt his sensations are somewhat over-all surface tension, while Gropius

generally critics have been willing to as- similar to those of a hypothetical observer permits his translucent surface the appear-

sociate transparency in architecture ex- of the workshop wing at the Bauhaus. In ance of hanging rather loosely from a

clusively with a transparency of materials. each case a transparency of materials is fascia which protrudes somewhat in the

Thus Gyorgy Kepes, having provided an discovered. But in the laterally constructed fashion of a curtain box. At Garches we

almost classical explanation of the mani- space of his picture, Picasso, through the can enjoy the sensation that possibly the

festations we have noticed in Braque, Gris, compilation of larger and smaller forms, framing of the windows passes behind the

and Leger, appears to consider that the offers the limitless possibilities of alterna- wall surface: at the Bauhaus, since we are

architectural analogue of these must be tive readings, while the glass wall at the never for a moment unaware that the slab

found in the material qualities of glass and Bauhaus, an unambiguous space, seems is pressing up behind the window, we are

plastics, and that the equivalent of their to be singularly free of this quality (Fig 8). not enabled to indulge in such specula-

carefully calculated compositions will be Thus, for evidence of what we have desig- tions.

discovered in the haphazard superimposi- nated phenomenal transparency, we shall

At Garches the ground is conceived of as

tions produced by the reflections and ac- be obliged to look elsewhere.

a vertical surface traversed by a horizon-

cidents of light playing upon a translucent

Le Corbusier's villa at Garches, almost tal range of windows; at the Bauhaus it is

or polished surface (7). And similarly,

contemporary with the Bauhaus, might given the appearance of a solid wall ex-

49
Siegfried Giedion seems to assume that

fairly be juxtaposed with it. Superficially, tensively punctured by glazing. At Garches

the presence of an all glass wall at the

the garden facade at this house (Fig 9) it offers an explicit indication of the frame

Bauhaus, with 'its extensive transparent

and the elevations of the workshop wing which carries the cantilevers above; at the

areas,' permits 'the hovering relations of

at the Bauhaus are not dissimilar. Both em- Bauhaus it shows somewhat stubby piers

planes and the kind of 'overlapping' which

ploy cantilevered floor slabs, and both dis- which one does not automatically connect

appears in contemporary painting'; and he

with the idea of a skeleton structure. In
play a recessed ground floor. Neither

proceeds to reinforce this suggestion with

admits an interruption of the horizontal this workshop wing of the Bauhaus one

a quotation from Alfred Barr on the char-

movement of the glazing, and both make might say that Gropius is absorbed with

acteristic 'transparency of overlapping

a point of carrying the glazing around the the idea of establishing a plinth upon

planes' in analytical cubism (8).

corner. But now similarities cease. From which to dispose an arrangement of hori-

In Picasso's L'Arlesienne, the picture that here on, one might say that Le Corbusier zontal planes, and that his principal con-

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 8 Bauhaus: corner of the workshop wing 9 Garches: garden facade

cern appears to be the wish that two of through our being made conscious of pri- concern for the picture plane with a most

these planes should be seen through a mary concepts which 'interpenetrate with- highly developed regard for the frontal

veil of glass. But glass would hardly seem out optical destruction of each other.' viewpoint (the preferred views include

to have held such fascination for Le Cor- only the slightest deviations from parallel

These two planes are not all; a third and

busier; and although one can obviously perspective); Leger's canvas becomes Le

equally distinct parallel surface is both

see through his windows, it is not precisely Corbusier's second plane; other planes

introduced and implied. It defines the rear

here that the transparency of his building are either imposed upon, or subtracted

wall of the terrace and the penthouse,

is to be found. from, this basic datum. Deep space is con-

and is further reiterated by other parallel

trived in similar coulisse fashion with the

At Garches the recessed surface of the

dimensions: the parapets of the garden

facade cut open and depth inserted in

ground floor is redefined on the roof by

stairs, the terrace, and the second-floor

the ensuing slot.

the two freestanding walls which termi-

balcony. Each of these planes is incom-

nate the terrace; and the same statement

plete in itself or perhaps even fragmen- One might infer that at Garches, Le Cor-

of depth is taken up in the side elevations

tary; yet it is with these parallel planes as busier had indeed succeeded in alienat-

by the glazed doors which act as conclu-

points of reference that the facade is or- ing architecture from its necessary three-

sions to the fenestration. In these ways

ganized, and the implication of all is of a dimensional existence, and in order to

Le Corbusier proposes the idea that im-

vertical, layerlike stratification of the in- qualify this analysis, some discussion of

mediately behind his glazing there lies a

terior space of the building, a succession the building's internal space is necessary.

narrow slot of space traveling parallel to

of laterally extended spaces traveling one

it; and of course, in consequence of this, On first examination this space appears

behind the other.

he implies a further idea-that bounding to be an almost flat contradiction of the

this slot of space, and behind it, there lies This system of spatial stratification brings facade; particularly on the principal floor,

a plane of which the ground floor, the Le Corbusier's facade into the closest the volume revealed is almost directly op-

50

freestanding walls, and the inner reveals relationship with the Leger we have al- posite to that which we might have antici-

of the doors all form a part; and although ready examined. In Three Faces L6ger pated. Thus the glazing of the garden

this plane may be dismissed as very ob- conceives of his canvas as a field modeled facade might have suggested the presence

viously a conceptual convenience rather in low relief. Of his three major panels of a single large room behind and it might

than a physical fact, its obtrusive presence (which overlap, dovetail, and alternatively have inspired the belief that the direction

is undeniable. Recognizing the physical comprise and exclude each other), two of this room was parallel with that of the

plane of glass and concrete and this imagi- are closely implicated in an almost equiv- facade. But the internal divisions deny

nary (though scarcely less real) plan,e alent depth relationship, while the third this statement and instead disclose a prin-

that lies behind it, we become aware that constitutes a coulisse disclosing a loca- cipal volume whose primary direction is

here a transparency is effected not tion which both advances and recedes. at right angles to that which might have

through the agency of a window but rather At Garches, Le Corbusier replaces Leger's been presumed, while in both principal

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 10 Garches: first floor plan and roof plan

and subsidiary volumes the predominance freestanding walls, and by the top of the interpretation.

of this direction is conspicuously empha- rather curious gazebo-all of which lie on

These possibly cerebral refinements are

sized by the flanking walls.

the same surface. The second plane now
scarcely so conspicuous at the Bauhaus;

becomes the major roof terrace and the indeed, they are attributes of which an
The spatial structure of this floor is ob-

coulisse space becomes the cut in this

aesthetic of materials is apt to be impa-
viously more complex than it appears at

slab which leads the eye down to the

tient. In the workshop wing of the Bauhaus
first, and ultimately it compels a revision

terrace below. Similar parallels are very it is the literal transparency that Giedion
of these initial assumptions. The nature of

obvious in considering the organization has chiefly applauded, and at Garches it is

the cantilevered slots becomes evident;

of the principal floor. For here the vertical

the phenomenal transparency that has en-
the apse of the dining room introduces a

equivalent of deep space is introduced gaged our attention. If with some reason
further lateral stress, while the positions

by the double height of the outer terrace

we have been able to relate the achieve-
of the principal staircase, the void, and

and by the void connecting living room ment of Le Corbusier to that of Fernand
the library all reaffirm the same dimension.

with entrance hall; and here, just as L6ger

Leger, with equal justification we might
In these ways the planes of the facade

enlarges spatial dimensions through the

notice a community of interest in the ex-
can be seen to effect a profound modifi-

displacement of the inner edges of his pression of Gropius and Moholy-Nagy.

cation of the deep extension of space

outer panels, so Le Corbusier encroaches

which is now seen to approach to the

Moholy was always preoccupied with the

upon the space of his central area.

stratified succession of flattened spaces

expression of glass, metal, reflecting sub-

suggested by the external appearance.

stances, and light; and Gropius, at least in

Thus throughout this house there is that

the 1920s, would seem to have been

So much might be said for a reading of
contradiction of spatial dimensions which

equally concerned with the idea of using

the internal volumes in terms of the verti- Kepes recognizes as a characteristic of

materials for their intrinsic qualities. Both,

cal planes; a further reading in terms of
transparency. There is a continuous dia-

51

it may be said without injustice, received a

the horizontal planes, the floors, will re- lectic between fact and implication. The

certain stimulus from the experiments of

veal similar characteristics. Thus, after reality of deep space is constantly op-

De Stijl and the Russian constructivists;

recognizing that a floor is not a wall and
posed to the inference of shallow space;

but both were apparently unwilling to ac-

that plans are not paintings, we might ex- and by means of the resultant tension,

cept certain more Parisian conclusions.

amine these horizontal planes in very reading after reading is enforced. The five

much the same manner as we have ex- layers of space which throughout each For seemingly it was in Paris that the

amined the facade, again selecting Three vertical dimension divide the building's
cubist 'discovery' of shallow space was

Faces as a point of departure. A comple-

volume and the four layers which cut it most completely exploited, and it was

ment of Leger's picture plane is now horizontally will all from time to time claim there that the idea of the picture plane as

offered by the roofs of the penthouse and attention; and this gridding of space will a uniformly activated field was most en-

elliptical pavilion, by the summits of the then result in continuous fluctuations of tirely understood. With Picasso, Braque,

=i-=L-i

ta-

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 12 Bauhaus: site plan
11 Bauhaus: first floor plan and second floor plan

Gris, Leger, and Ozenfant we are never ministrative offices, and the workshop
lowed them to flow away into infinity; and

conscious of the picture plane functioning wing, the first floor may suggest a chan-
by being unwilling to attribute to either of

in any passive role. Both it, as negative neling of space in one direction. Through
them any significant difference of quality,

space, and the objects placed upon it, as the countermovement of roadway, class-
he has prohibited the possibilities of a po-

positive space, are endowed with an equal rooms, and auditorium wing, the ground
tential ambiguity. Thus only the contours

capacity to stimulate. Outside the Ecole de floor suggests a movement of space in the
of his blocks assume a layerlike character;

Paris this condition is not typical, although other. A preference for neither direction is
but these layers of building scarcely act to

Mondrian, a Parisian by adoption, consti- stated, and the ensuing dilemma is re-
suggest a layerlike structure of either in-

tutes one major exception and Klee an-

solved, as indeed it must be in this case,
ternal or external space. Denied the possi-

other. But a glance at any representative

by giving priority to diagonal points of
bility of penetrating a stratified space

work of Kandinsky, Malevich, El Lissitsky, view.

which is defined either by real planes or

or Van Doesburg will reveal that these

their imaginary projections, the observer is
Much as Van Doesburg and Moholy es-

painters, like Moholy, scarcely felt the

also denied the possibility of experiencing
chewed frontality, so did Gropius; and it

necessity of providing any distinct spatial

the conflict between a space which is ex-
is significant that, while the published

matrix for their principal objects. They are

plicit and another which is implied. He
photographs of Garches tend to minimize

prone to accept a simplification of the

may enjoy the sensation of looking through
factors of diagonal recession, almost in-

cubist image as a composition of geomet-

a glass wall and thus perhaps be able to
variably the published photographs of the

rical planes, but are apt to reject the com-

see the exterior and the interior of the
Bauhaus tend to play up just such factors.

parable cubist abstraction of space. For

building simultaneously; but in doing so he
The importance of these diagonal views of

these reasons their pictures offer us com-

will be conscious of few of those equivocal
the Bauhaus is constantly reasserted-by

positions which float in an infinite, atmos-

sensations which derive from phenomenal
the translucent corner of the workshop

52
pheric, naturalistic void, without any of'the
transparency.
wing and by such features as the balconies

rich Parisian stratification of volume. And

of the dormitory and the protruding slab

Le Corbusier's League of Nations project

the Bauhaus may be accepted as their

over the entrance to the workshops, fea-

of 1927, like the Bauhaus, possesses het-

architectural equivalent.

tures which require for their understand-

erogeneous elements and functions that

ing a renunciation of the principle of

Thus in the Bauhaus complex, although we

lead to an extended organization, and to

frontality.

are presented with a composition of slab-

the appearance of a further feature which

like buildings whose forms suggest the The Bauhaus reveals a succession of
both buildings have in common: the nar-

possibility of a reading of space by layers, spaces but scarcely 'a contradiction of

row block. But here again similarities

we are scarcely conscious of the presence spatial dimensions.' Relying on the diago-
cease, for while the Bauhaus blocks pin-

of spatial stratification. Through the move- nal viewpoint, Gropius has exteriorized the
wheel in a manner highly suggestive of

ments of the dormitory building, the ad- opposed movements of his space, has al-
constructivist compositions, in the League

,/

II

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 13 League of Nations: plan

of Nations these same long blocks define a sort of monumental debate, an argument sideways, to the view of the gardens and

a system of striations almost more rigid between a real and ideal space. the lake beyond. And should the observer

than that at Garches.

turn round from this rift between him and

We will presume the Palace of the League

his obvious goal, and should he look at

In the League of Nations project lateral of Nations as having been built and an

the trees which he has just left, the lateral

extension characterizes the two principal observer following the axial approach to

sliding of the space will only become more

wings of the Secretariat, qualifies the its auditorium. Necessarily, he is subjected

determined, emphasized by the trees

library and book-stack area, is re-empha- to the polar attraction of its principal

themselves and the cross alley leading

sized by the entrance quay and the foyers entrance. But the block of trees which in-

into the slotted indenture alongside the

of the General Assembly Building, and tersects his vision introduces a lateral

book stack. If the observer is a man of

dominates even the auditorium itself. deflection of interest, so that he becomes

moderate sophistication, and if the pierc-

There, the introduction of glazing along successively aware, first, of a relation be-

ing of a screen or a volume of trees by a

the side walls, disturbing the normal focus tween the flanking office-building and the

road might have come to suggest to him

of the hall upon the presidential box, in- foreground parterre, and second, of a

that the intrinsic function of this road is

troduces the same transverse direction. relation between the crosswalk and the

to penetrate similar volumes and screens,

The contrary statement of deep space also courtyard of the Secretariat. And once

then by inference the terrace on which

becomes a highly assertive proposition. within the trees, beneath the low umbrella

he is standing becomes not a prelude to

It is chiefly suggested by a lozenge shape they provide, a further tension is estab-

the auditorium, as its axial relationship

whose main axis passes through the Gen- lished: the space, which is inflected to-

suggests, but a projection of the volumes

eral Assembly Building and whose outline ward the auditorium, is defined by, and

and planes of the office building with

is comprised by a projection of the audi- reads as, a projection of the book stack

which it is aligned.

torium volume into the approach roads of and library. While finally, with the trees as

the cour d'honneur (Fig 13). But again, a volume behind him, the observer at last These stratifications, devices by means of
53

as at Garches, the intimations of depth finds himself standing on a low terrace, which space becomes constructed, sub-

inherent in this form are consistently re- confronting the entrance quay but sepa- stantial, and articulate, are the essence of

tracted. A cut, a displacement, and a rated from it by a rift of space so complete that phenomenal transparency which has

sliding sideways occur along the line of that it is only by the propulsive power of been noticed as characteristic of the cen-

its major axis; and as a space, it is re- the walk behind him that he can be en- tral postcubist tradition. They have never

peatedly scored through and broken down abled to cross it. With his arc of vision been noticed as characteristic of the Bau-

into a series of lateral references-by no longer restricted, he is now offered the haus, which obviously manifests a com-

trees, by circulations, by the momentum General Assembly Building in its full ex- pletely different conception of space. In

of the buildings themselves-so thatfinally, tent; but since a newly revealed lack of the League of Nations project Le Cor-

through a series of positive and negative focus compels his eye to slide along this busier provides the observer with a series

implications, the whole scheme becomes facade, it is again irretrievably drawn of quite specific locations: in the Bauhaus

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 14 League of Nations: axonometric view

he is without such points of reference.

of amorphic outline, is like a reef gently

Although the League of Nations project

washed by a placid tide.

is extensively glazed, such glazing, except

The foregoing discussion has sought to

in the auditorium, is scarcely of capital

clarify the spatial milieu in which phenom-

importance. At the Palace of the League

enal transparency becomes possible. It

of Nations, corners and angles are asser-

is not intended to suggest that phenom-

tive and definite. At the Bauhaus, Giedion

enal transparency (for all its cubist de-

tells us, they are 'dematerialised.' At the

scent) is a necessary constituent of modern

Palace of the League of Nations space is

architecture, nor that its presence might

crystalline; but at the Bauhaus it is glazing

be used like a piece of litmus paper for

which gives the building a 'crystalline

the test of architectural orthodoxy. It is

translucence.' At the Palace of the League

intended simply to give a characterization

of Nations glass provides a surface as

of species and also to warn against the

definite and taut as the top of a drum; but

confusion of species.

at the Bauhaus, glass walls 'flow into one

another,' 'blend into each other,' 'wrap

around the building,' and in other ways

(by acting as the absence of plane) 'con-

1 Gyorgy Kepes: Language of Vision

tribute to that process of loosening up a

2 Moholy-Nagy: Vision in Motion, Chi-

building which now dominates the archi-

cago 1947; pp 188, 194,159,157

tectural scene' (9).

3 Moholy-Nagy: op cit p 210

But we look in vain for 'loosening up' in

4 Moholy-Nagy: op cit p 350

54

the Palace of the League of Nations. It

5 Alfred Barr: Picasso: Fifty Years of His

shows no evidence of any desire to oblit-

Art, New York 1946; p 68

erate sharp distinction. Le Corbusier's

6 Moholy-Nagy: The New Vision and Ab-

planes are like knives for the apportionate

stract of an Artist, New York 1947; p 75

slicing of space. If we could attribute to

7 Gyorgy Kepes: op cit

space the qualities of water, then his

8 Siegfried Giedion: Space, Time, and

building is like a dam by means of which

Architecture, Cambridge, Mass 1954;

space is contained, embanked, tunneled,

p 491 and p 490

sluiced, and finally spilled into the in-

9 Siegfried Giedion: op cit p 489; and S.

formal gardens alongside the lake. By

Giedion: Walter Gropius, New York

contrast, the Bauhaus, insulated in a sea

1954; pp 54-55

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