Transparency

Scientists, engineers, architects, artists and business and cultural leaders reflected on “transparency” as material and as metaphor.

The Glass House provided a singular reference throughout this conversation, beginning with the discussion of glass as a material: Glass is not a solid, as it seems, but a super-cooled liquid that moves over time. An overcast day meant that participants saw themselves reflected in the glass of the Glass House while they could also look through the glass, into the landscape.

Historically, glass has been used in architecture for spectacle as well as to bring daylight inside. Early modernists were interested in crystal forms and, ultimately, this brought them to glass, which became a defining material for modernism. Since Johnson built the Glass House in 1946-49, glass itself has evolved in ways that are relevant to economy, energy, and efficiency.

Because of its unique properties, glass can simultaneously serve as a connector or a divider. It was suggested that transparency can do the same for leadership and for power, which raised more questions: How is “transparency” a metaphor for leadership across society? How is it used for illusion and for power?