Theory
Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal
Explore in the Atlas →Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky's distinction between literal transparency (physical see-through materials such as glass) and phenomenal transparency (the layered, ambiguous spatial reading produced by overlapping planar organisation, as in Cubist painting and Le Corbusier's villas).
Production Fantasy
Details
- Introduced
- 1960s
Classifications
- Holder
- Individual
- Source of authority
- Reason
- Subject
- Human centred
- Mode of transmission
- Text drawing
- Knowledge type
- Propositional
- Epistemic cluster
- Western philosophical
Connections
- relates to The Five Points / The Free Plan
Referenced by
- Robert Slutzky proposed
- Colin Rowe proposed
Sources
- Colin Rowe and Robert Slutzky. Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal. Perspecta, Vol. 8 (Yale), 1963.
Cite this entry
First published May 2026Last revised Jul 2026
CLAD. "Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal." Atlas of Architectural Thought. CLAD, 2026. https://www.cl-ad.com.au/research/atlas/theory/transparency-literal-phenomenal/. Accessed July 17, 2026.