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Experimentation with Colour in Architectural Spaces

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Architectural Draughtsmanship (EGA 2016)

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Abstract

Even if the false myth of white in modernity is already over, we have a chromatic tradition to some extent broken and which needs to be rebuilt, or better re-experienced. In the Master’s subject “Color and Design of Spaces”, a teaching is developed seeking for a critical understanding of our visual culture and a creative experimentation with colour in architecture. We analyze in depth the strategic ability of colour to support a particular architectural intention together with its cultural and semantic connotations. Secondly, we experience the chromatic possibilities rendered by new building materials, lighting technologies and computer design software.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This paper is just one of the activities linked to the R&D project “New methodologies to evaluate the visual integration of architecture that has an impact on the urban landscape” financed through funding from the Valencia Regional Government’s Department of Education, Culture and Sport.

  2. 2.

    It is of particular note that when Luis Barragán accepted the Pritzker Prize, he only mentioned colour twice during his speech: in the first, he referred to the inspiration he found in the “colour-filled streets” of the Mexican province, and “its white-washed walls”, while the second was to warn that an “indiscriminate colour palette” might conceivably chase away the serenity of the architecture (Barragán 1980).

  3. 3.

    “The search for space, for light, for joy, for strength, for serenity, invites us to call for colour, son of the light” (Le Corbusier 1931, 1:113).

  4. 4.

    Colour plays an essential role in the visual integration of architecture that has an impact on its surroundings, both natural and urban, a topic that we are currently researching at the UPV Colour Research Group.

  5. 5.

    A video of the results of the work by students can be seen at the following link: https://youtu.be/FL8Tv2gkvoI.

  6. 6.

    “Colour and Interior Architecture Award: Exhibition of entries submitted”. 22/09/2015 to 06/10/2015, UPV School of Architecture.

  7. 7.

    A new edition of this definitive book de Joseph Albers “The interaction of colour” (1963) was recently published, this time in the form of an electronic app that enables one to browse through the original exercises of the master of colour (Taboada 2015).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitat Politécnica de València, Valencia, Spain

    Juan Serra Lluch, Ana Torres Barchino, Irene de la Torre Fornés & Ángela García Codoñer

Authors
  1. Juan Serra Lluch
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  2. Ana Torres Barchino
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  3. Irene de la Torre Fornés
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  4. Ángela García Codoñer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juan Serra Lluch .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Arquitectura, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain

    Enrique Castaño Perea

  2. Departamento de Arquitectura, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain

    Ernesto Echeverria Valiente

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Serra Lluch, J., Torres Barchino, A., de la Torre Fornés, I., García Codoñer, Á. (2018). Experimentation with Colour in Architectural Spaces. In: Castaño Perea, E., Echeverria Valiente, E. (eds) Architectural Draughtsmanship. EGA 2016. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58856-8_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58856-8_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58855-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58856-8

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