Color within Architecture: Much more than Aesthetics

The use of color in architecture plays a more important role than that of ornament. The chromatic choices are related to the building’s purpose, the culture in which it is settled, the needs of the people it will host and its development as a whole. Let’s take a look at the different implications that color has within architecture.

Have you ever wondered why people find some rooms in their houses more comfortable than others? Or why the productivity or ability to focus increases depending on the place where people are working? Color plays a key role in these dynamics, and this goes beyond the paint on the walls: the furniture, the materials with which the floor is made, and even the type and hue of glass used for the windows all have influence in the ambience that is created.

The presence of colors in the spaces we inhabit is responsible for several conscious and subconscious processes that interfere in our psycho-spatial dynamics. This is important because it means that the choices of color will help to shape the way in which people occupy certain spaces. Architects cannot ignore this, since the ultimate purpose of their work is to meet the human needs in the best possible way.

Color also dialogues with certain aspects of construction in ways that can really enhance the architect’s vision. From the Mexican Luis Barragán, whose use of color in relation with space is truly iconic; to Siza Vieira, who offers an ascetic monochromatic aesthetic, many prominent architects have worked with these notions in mind. This becomes clear when it is impossible to separate a building’s structure from its color without losing its essence.

Architecture inherently involves color as it takes light in consideration. A deep understanding of space, light, reflection and volume is the only way of really taking the color choices to a transcendent stage. This use will prevail in time going beyond trends and personal taste, since it will dialogue with space and become one with the whole project. YOU MUST READ Architecture and Sustainability: The Importance the Context

• “The Perception of Color in Architecture”, TMD Studio LTD, https://medium.com/studiotmd/the-perception-of-color-in-architecture-cf360676776c
• “Color theory in architecture”, Connections by Finsa, https://www.connectionsbyfinsa.com/color-theory-in-architecture/?lang=en
• Colour in architecture – Colour design for the ‘Branchen Versicherung Schweiz’, Les Couleurs, https://www.lescouleurs.ch/en/journal/posts/colour-in-architecture