Huaiben Yang
Opaque Transparency
Reskinning facade
Revelation – Concealment – Government – Public – Transparency – Opaque
My architectural thesis project, "Opaque Transparency: Unveiling Government Facades," delves into an exploration at the intersection of design, perception, and governance. Governments often make appearances to reveal the inner workings of themselves, yet we know these strides usually shift the secrecy of governments elsewhere. Modern architecture has also made attempts to make buildings more transparent; glass facades are an example that replace closed-off exteriors. We see the glass façade building as a stand-in for transparency in government, for example the US Courthouse in Downtown LA by SOM or the CCTV building in Beijing by OMA. This is a relationship of transparency to government and glass to architecture. However, the use of glass often leads to unintended opacity due to intense reflections, making the interiors challenging to perceive clearly. This situation parallels the intentions of modernism, aiming to create open and transparent structures, but often resulting in colossal reflective edifices that obscure the interior. The concept of government transparency paradoxically transforms into a scenario where, in their endeavor to display everything, they inadvertently conceal it all. Government transparency is not really transparent.
My project replaces the facades of everyday, almost forgettable, municipal government buildings in my hometown of Wuhan, China. The three buildings I’ve chosen are the government office, government residential, and government archive in the concession area. Each building has already gone through façade renovations that recall traditional and modern styles that make the government friendlier and more familiar. Attention is rarely paid to the activities of these more mundane government buildings, leading them to be easier to hide and make opaque decisions.
The new facades introduce a visual experiencer characterized by transparency and openness, thus forging an enhanced connection between government entities and the general public. Consequently, I am exploring methods to effectively convey the activities within the building and unveil what lies behind its exterior in a novel manner. As part of this effort, I have reskinned the solid walls as transparent "see-through walls" using rendered images of the facades printed almost as large as building. The images include white space around the rendering, to make the façade appear more image-like and surreal. I have two primary approaches to constructing the images. The first involves crafting a 3D-printed facade made of transparent bricks; the second approach features a glass wall imprinted with an image of the original building.
However, the introduction of transparent "see-through walls" constitutes a multifaceted strategy. While it allows people to visually access the internal operations of the government, it also brings about a paradox—opacity induced by reflection. The deliberate use of inclined glass facades introduces this paradox, where the desire for transparency triggers a phenomenon of concealment. When glass material is utilized at an inclined angle for the facade, strong reflections often occur, such as reflections of the sky or surrounding buildings. This obscures the view of the building's interior, exemplifying the opaquer effect brought about by the transparent glass material. This intricate interplay of contradictory elements forms the cornerstone of my exploration—an engaging state of tension that succinctly captures the essence of "Opaque Transparency."
Render 01 / Reskinning Government Office
Render 02 / Reskinning Government Residential
Render 03 / Reskinning Government Archive