341Already the diaphanous (literally: shining through) quality of
Gothic architecture (Jantzen 1957) represents such a play with
shallow depth and space-containing surfaces within which the
light is captured. The stone lattice/grid of the high walls of a
nave functions as an architectural relief, one that is set in opti-
cal terms either against a dark ground or a collared ground
of light. In recently developed facade types, this phenomenon
has been cultivated through multilayered membranes of vary-
ing light permeability and structuring. Resulting from such
superimposition are moiré effects, which evoke impressions
of a ‘virtual materiality’ (Gleiter 2002). This results from the
emergence of interspaces between individual layers in a way
that is reminiscent of the Japanese notion of ma (impalpable
interstice); these are not however designed for human pres-
ence. Through schematically perceptible shapes or the play
of shadows, such strategies produce hints and intimations
that excite curiosity. The filtering, shading, and structuring of
incident light, or the use of wall surfaces that are illuminated
from within, generates soft light moods or those charged with
special effects.
- In contradistinction to transparency in the literal sense
of light permeability, the term transparency is also used in
the ‘phenomenal’ sense (Rowe/Slutzky 1997) to refer to the
superimposition of various spatial figures or systems. Such su-
perimpositions can be experienced in such a way so that here
too, figuratively speaking, one spatial figure ‘shows through’
another, which is to say that multiple spatial figures or systems
simultaneously constitute the basis for localization, the refer-
ence system for the fixation of a position or the framing of a
space. Different systems enter into competition for this role,
or leave undefined the question of which position or space
belongs to which system; now, they may be assignable simul-
taneously to two or more systems. The perceptibility of such
superimpositions presupposes that the architectural manifes-
tation of spatial figures or systems is not unambiguously fixed
by spatial delimitations (i.e. walls, supports or edges), but