Colour and Architecture
Architects’ attitude to colour varies according to the understanding of the relationship between form and colour. Frequently colour is regarded as decorative, serving no useful function because form is architecture.
But for architects with an awareness of the importance of the impact of colour on the human being, colour complements form in animating the bones and body of the building.
The identification, differentiation, naming and aesthetic response to colour, primarily the result of cultural development and formal education arises in the more formally educated part of the brain called the cortex.
The more reflexive and instinctive responses to colour, which profoundly affect our total organismic functioning, arise out of the more primitive mid brain.
This could mean that the response to colour is deeply set and very much entwined in the entire development of the life process.
~ Dr John Ott, Health and Light (1973)
Colour takes on three characters in the architectural drama:
- Decorator
- Narrator
- Animateur
Decorator
Colour embellishes the bones of the building by emphasising forms and features such as cornices or external fascias. It is used in decoration and objects to symbolise classical or mythological architectural events, either in the reproduction of stylised artefacts and finishes.
Currently in the western world view, embellishment is either eschewed as decadent, in favour of minimalism, or embraced as celebratory showmanship of the post modern liberation from style.
Historically drapes, textures, finishes and colours were not just an expression of the wealth of the inhabitants but an evocation of sacred sanctuaries and cosmic forces.
Serge Couturier m o t i f
Narrator
Colour tells the story of the building as well being the voice of the contemporary feeling life. Lack of colour speaks of the dominance of form and intellect over feeling and the emphasis of colour and texture speaks of the dominance of feeling over structure.
The prevalence of boring beige in contemporary homes demonstrates the dominance of the neutralised personality, led by the mistaken belief that home resale values improve with a neutral coloured environment, so the incumbent can layer their imagined new environment upon a bland palette.
Currently favoured, white walls with counterpoint feature walls orientate the viewer around the space, giving the option of diverse moods within even a small space. Colours in textures and fittings can be indicators of what is happening in the various spaces in the building.
In aged care facilities colour can assist people to travel through space more smoothly and safely with contrasting edges to stairs and change of colour and pattern in the carpet to signify a change of direction.
In 1947 Louis Cheskin in Colours – What They Can Do For You stated, ‘white walls are an optical strain and a psychological hazard.’
Animateur
White walls are an optical strain when they are not interrupted or contrasted with colour within close proximity.
Colour research has established that although the different hues affect human emotion and metabolism, it is the contrast factor which has the most impact upon human functioning. So it is change and contrast of hue value, or chroma, that enlivens and stimulates or quietens and relaxes.
Good design includes the needs of the individuals who use the space. Individual needs merge with collective needs in the use of colour and texture, an important aesthetic element for the function of the space.
The future will be holistic architecture, in which colour, texture and form are understood as elementary functions of the human being. Questions of taste and preference are viewed within the whole context of function of the space and individual needs within the function of the space.
The art of the visual artist is to work in a team with architect and interior designer to bring about a holistic environment which nurtures body and soul, through the use of colour, texture and form. At Living Colour Studio, Catherine van Wilgenburg reconstructs the term ‘decoration’ to mean (Latin decus – oris, beauty) as ‘the combination of qualities delighting all the senses’ for the well being of all who use the space.
Working together colour, form and movement are the three visual pathways to visual perception, not only of the vision system but the entire organismic system.
See more examples of the use of colour in architecture: Building Colour Consultancy Projects
References
Birren, Faber, Light, Colour and Environment Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1969
Birren, Faber, Colour and Human Response: aspects of light and colour bearing on the reactions of living things and the welfare of human beings Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1978
Birren, Faber, Colour, Form and Space Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1971
Breiling, B., Ed., Light Years Ahead Celestial Arts, Berkeley, California, 1996
Mahnke, Frank H. and Rudolf H., Colour and Light in Man-made Environments Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1993
Ott, Dr. John Nash, Health and Light The Devin-Adair Co., Connecticut, 1973
