Similar to the 'air perspective' from the sketch render then, I assume?
I would actually suggest 'distance fog' in the cinerender detailed settings. I know you explicitly said it had to be a surface setting, but this does exactly what you describe. You can untick 'affect background' to keep your environment background clear.
Just did a quick test with a white colour and fairly high distance from the camera you can wash out the colours that are far from the camera. Try playing with the strength setting too.
Erwin Edel, Project Lead, Leloup Architecten
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