Abstract
In this study, we reviewed Colin Rowe's “Phenomenal Transparency” in the genealogy of his lifelong studies on Le Corbusier.The result is as follows. 1) His first encounter with Le Corbusier was traced back to the acquisition of the Complete Works Vol. 1 and The Studio magazine, where he found “architectural promenades”. 2) His analysis of the structural grid of Villa Stein on “The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa” prepares the mathematical basis in “Phenomenal Transparency.” 3) Rearranging the photographs of Villa Stein in the Complete Works Vol. 1 reveals an architectural promenade. 4) In “Transparency : Literal and Phenomenal,” he summed up the characteristics of the interior space of Villa Stein as “the stratified succession of flattened spaces” where two orthogonal directions coexist and an “architectural promenade” that weaves between them can be recognized. 5) “Provocative Façade : Frontality and Contrapposto” compiled in his last years is a developmental result of the “architectural promenade” of Villa Stein.
