Untitled Quiz

Colors in Architecture I

• Color and light significantly alter the use and perception of a space. These elements can be manipulated to evoke specific emotions or effects.
• Color can define form and convey a sense of scale, rather than simply serving as a backdrop.
• Color can be used to create illusions or highlight dramatic architectural features.
• Color theories emerged around the 1400s and were further developed in the 1600s by Isaac Newton.
• Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) demonstrated that color is a natural part of sunlight. Sunlight passing through a prism disperses, revealing its component wavelengths (colors).
• Newton's experimentation led to the concept of the spectrum and how recombination of spectral colors recreates white light.
• The science of color is sometimes called chromatics and includes: perception of color by the human eye and brain, color theory in art, origins of color in materials and physics of electromagnetic radiation (light).
• An object appears a certain color because only light waves of that color are reflected back to the eye; other wavelengths are absorbed.
• Light and color perception are influenced by many factors, including generators/transmitters (light sources), modifiers/retransmitters (secondary light sources), receivers (eyes), and decoders/interpreters (brain).
• Color is described using three basic properties: hue (name of color), value (lightness/darkness), and chroma/saturation (purity/intensity).
• Tints (white added), shades (black added), and tones (gray added) manipulate a hue.
• A color wheel is a visual aid for understanding color theory and creating color schemes.
• A standard color wheel has 12 colors: 3 primary (red, yellow, blue), 3 secondary (orange, green, violet), and 6 tertiary (red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet).
• Color schemes can be contrasted or related (analogous).
• Other types of color schemes include: monochromatic, neutral, warm, cool, complementary, triad (primary or secondary).

Physiological Effects of Color

• Mystics believe humans emanate a colored glow (aura) affecting health and spirituality.
• Chromotherapy, using colors to heal, dates back thousands of years (ancient Egypt, China, and India).
• Chromotherapy is used in environmental design to affect health and behavior.

Color Symbolism

• Color associations derive from both biological responses and cultural contexts.
• Specific colors carry symbolic meanings across cultures. (Examples of color symbolism were given for specific colors, e.g., Red, Orange, Purple, White, etc. )

Important roles color can play in architectural design

• Setting emotional tone/ambiance of a space.
• Focusing or diverting attention.
• Modulating space to feel larger/smaller.
• Breaking up/defining the space.
• Unifying space/knitting it together.

Interactive Relationships of Color

• Color selection must consider all surrounding colors and materials in a space.
• Adjacent colors strongly interact; careful consideration is crucial.
• Warm colors appear larger and more forward, while cool colors appear smaller and recede.

Tonality

• The dominant color in a scheme defines its tonality.
• The subdominant color is next in prominence.
• Subordinate colors are used least frequently.