WATA - World Architecture Technal Awards Edition 2019 | Page 4

“T
ransparency may be an inherent quality of
substance, as in a glass curtain wall; or it may be
an inherent quality of organisation.” (Colin Rowe /
Robert Slutzky: “Transparency” 1963)
Transparency is usually referred to as a material
property, most commonly associated with glass. However,
understood in in a more conceptual way, it can be a quality
inherent to a spatial organisation and thus become a tool
for generating a more complex spatial order.
By applying techniques such as layering, superimposing,
folding and intertwining, complex assemblages of diverse
and multi-layered spatial conditions are created, where
categories such as solid and void, private and public, city
and nature - traditionally perceived in dialectic opposition -
are juxtaposed in new and unexpected ways.
Apart from the skilful use of light and materiality, it is these
spatial qualities which many of the Laureate Projects of
the first edition of WATA demonstrate. This manifests itself
in varied ways, such as mini-campuses with urban-like
qualities of diversity; complex assemblages of historic
structures with contemporary interventions; folded blocks
superimposed onto themselves; or solids carved-out and
clad with multi-layered, adoptable facades.
In their simultaneity of different conditions these spaces
avoid being deterministic and in their deliberate ambiguity
allow for multiple readings. They thereby invite and
encourage interpretation and adoption, giving its users the
ultimate freedom to engage in creative, ever-changing and
unforeseeable manners.
Fabian Hecker
Zaha Hadid Architects