Phenomenal Transparency: Study of Le Corbusier’s Villa Stein

Design Studio, 2017

The study of phenomenal transparency delved into the notion that objects may overlap in space and time without mutually erasing each other. We modeled Le Corbusier’s Villa Stein in positive and negative and divided it into eight choice sections. By flattening these sections, we began to understand the building divorced from its plan. Walls, windows, guardrails and other elements all serve to form distinct vertical planes of division between which the habitable spaces are held like water behind dams and dykes. The study’s final iteration, Corbu’s Machine for Viewing, allows for the continual shuffling of these planes, exposing the building’s underlying logic while simultaneously rendering it meaningless.