Transparency and layering. A non-literal analysis from the Resor to the Farnsworth house

The Farnsworth House has conventionally been highlighted as the perfect model of the glass, transparent house. The work analyses the characteristics of layering and opacity in three interrelated Mies’ projects: the Resor House (1934-39), the Museum for a Small City (1941-43) and the Farnsworth House (1945-1952). As is known, the Farnsworth house was developed from the concept of the unbuilt Resor house, while the Museum for a Small City shows analogies with the other two and its temporally relevant. Through a close-reading of drawings, collages and photography, the paper aims to give an interpretation of the projects’ transparency in a non-literal manner.