Appraising the Opaque: Studies of Architectural Opacity

3 units

From the early decades of the 20th Century, transparency has been a critical concept in the theorization and practice of modern architecture. Transparency's other -- opacity -- was typically associated with the past, specifically the Beaux-Arts tradition, and was shunned by the avant-garde. Lacking apologists, opacity went unrecognized and unrewarded. However, the weight of opacity can clearly be felt in many canonical examples of twentieth-century architecture: Wright's Ennis House (1924), Le Corbusier's Notre-Dame du Haut (1956), and Kahn's Trenton Bath House (1959), to name a few. Likewise, today's renewed interest in transparency runs in parallel with explorations in opacity such as OMA's Casa da musica (2004), Zumthor's Brother Claus Field Chapel (2007), and Herzog & de Meuron's Caixa Forum (2008). This seminar will assess the role of opacity in modernist discourses, and will explore its relevance to contemporary architectural practice. Students will gain an art historical understanding of opacity in the conception and realization of architectural works, and delve specifically into the tectonic and sustainable aspects of opacity.