Transparency in theory, discourse, and practice of Landscape Architecture

Transparency within the discipline of landscape architecture surprisingly garners much less attention than transparency in the architecture field. Transparency as a design element has occasional use in landscape architecture, but is often obscured by other design intentions; while transparency as a theoretical instrument has a noticeable absence within landscape discourse. This absence is more pronounced as landscape architecture designs have traditionally engaged seasonality, climatic fluctuations, and plant materials to evoke the more qualitative interpretations of transparency such as ephemerality and ethereality (e.g. Michael Van Valkenburgh’s Radcliff Ice Wall). Responding to this absence, the research methodology employed by this thesis included both a theoretical and an empirical approach that questioned these meanings of `transparency’. The research first synthesized existing architectural theory on transparency and mapped its use as a material condition in the modernist movement to contemporary design. This activated a language that was transferred to landscape architecture dialogue and that was used to first demonstrate and, secondly, question the absence of transparency within landscape architecture discourse. The thesis utilized a series of case studies as a means to develop and illustrate an understanding of the theoretical and technical use of transparency within landscape architecture. Further, the thesis questioned whether or not that transparency in landscape architecture co-evolved with its architectural use operating on the hypothesis that transparency in landscape architecture acts on its accord. Integrating the architectural discourse on transparency and the landscape architecture case studies indicated several results. First, it confirmed that transparency is latently present as a design instrument in landscape architecture. Secondly, it challenged this hypothesis demonstrating that the use of transparency in certain landscape architecture projects, such as Dan Kiley’s Miller Garden, actually aligns with transparency’s corresponding use in architecture. However, in other projects, such as Front Garden by Paul and Andre Vera and Jean-Charles Moreux, that transparency in landscape architecture diverges. The research concludes by arguing for a more intentional use of a design device that is intrinsic to landscape architecture – suggesting that the unique potentials of transparency in the profession is its ability to evoke new spatial territories that heighten our sensory experiences and respond to the temporal qualities of the landscape.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Landscape Architecture

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Architecture

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Shimmel, David Philip

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bennett, Katherine

• Landscape Architecture
• Transparency
• Architecture
• Design
• Translucency

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366213070

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1366213070