Lesson 5: Perception of Color in Architecture PDF

LESSON 5 PERCEPTION OF COLOR IN ARCHITECTURE HUMAN RESPONSE TO COLOR IS TOTAL -- IT\ INFLUENCES US PSYCHOLOGICALLY AND\ PHYSIOLOGICALLY.\ Color is a sensory perception, and as any\ sensory perception, it has effects that\ are symbolic, associative, synesthetic, and\ emotional The impression of a...

LESSON 5 PERCEPTION OF COLOR IN ARCHITECTURE HUMAN RESPONSE TO COLOR IS TOTAL -- IT\ INFLUENCES US PSYCHOLOGICALLY AND\ PHYSIOLOGICALLY.\ Color is a sensory perception, and as any\ sensory perception, it has effects that\ are symbolic, associative, synesthetic, and\ emotional The impression of a color and the message\ it conveys is of utmost importance in\ creating the psychological mood or\ ambiance that supports the function of a\ space The designer has the task of knowing how\ the reception of visual stimulation, its\ processing and evoked responses in\ conjunction with the hormonal system,\ produces the best possibilities for the\ welfare of human beings. This is of utmost\ importance in varied environments Faber Birren\ Father of Applied Color Psychology\ Originator of OSHA colors (Occupational Safety\ and Health Administration)\ Established the profession of color consultants\ (1936)\ Discovered the relationship of the fundamental\ attributes pertaining to hues: shade, tint, and tone.\ "The study of color is essentially a mental and\ psychological science, for the term color itself refers\ to sensation." LEVELS IN SENSING AND EXPERIENCING COLORS: - Biological Reaction to a Color Stimulus - Subconsciousness - Conscious Symbolism Association - Cultural Influence - Trends, Styles, Fashion Influences - Personal Relations RED - It has an aggressive quality and is frequently associated with violence and excitement.\ (medium red) suggests health and vitality\ (bright red) often has amorous connotations Effect: exciting, stimulating\ Association:\ Positive: passionate, fervid, active, strong, warm\ Negative: intense, aggressive, raging, fierce, bloody\ Character: Red is the most dominant and dynamic color.\ The eye has to adjust focus, since the natural focal point of\ red lies behind the retina. Consequently, red appears closer\ than it is.\ Ceiling: intruding, disturbing, heavy\ Walls: aggressive, advancing\ Floor: conscious, alert YELLOW \- denotes gayety; stimulating cheering - to the lazy,\ upsetting to the nervous.\ - It is the most luminous color.\ - Yellow also demands attention, and so, it is used in\ dangerous locations, such as the edge of a subway\ platform to mark the hazard, while red used to be the color for firetrucks, yellow is now preferred. Effect: cheering\ Association:\ Positive: sunny, cheerful, radiant, vital\ Negative: egocentric, glaring\ Character: When pure, yellow is the happiest of all colors.\ In radiates warmth, cheerfulness, and inspiration and\ signifies enlightenment, and communication.\ Ceiling: light (towards lemon), luminous, stimulating\ Walls: warm (towards orange), exciting to irritating (highly\ saturated)\ Floor: elevating, diverting ORANGE - has a stimulating effect and should usually be used in relatively small amounts. The occupant of an orange office, for instance will become ill at ease after a short time and will leave it at every opportunity. Effect: exciting, stimulating, cheering\ Association:\ Positive: jovial, lively, energetic, extroverted\ Negative: intrusive, blustering\ Character: Orange is less masculine than red. It has very\ few negative associations. However, it may appear cheap\ or without vigor if low in saturation.\ Ceiling: stimulating, attention-seeking\ Walls: warm, luminous\ Floor: activating, motion-oriented BROWN - is restful and warming but should be combined with orange, yellow or gold because it could be depressing if used alone. Effect: subduing\ Association:\ Positive: warm, secure, stable\ Negative: oppressive, heavy\ Character: There is a great difference between wood and\ brown paint. In certain institutions brown should be\ avoided since it evokes fecal associations. Wood and stone on the other hand appear very comfortable, and warm.\ Ceiling: oppressive and heavy (if dark)\ Walls: secure and assuring if wood, much less so if paint\ Floor: steady, stable GRAY - suggests cold and is also depressing unless combined\ with at least one livelier color. Effect: neutral to calming\ Association:\ Positive: neutral\ Negative: boring\ Character: Gray fails to have much psychotherapeutic\ application. Thus, the current fashion of using it with\ various accent walls defies all logic.\ Ceiling: shadowy\ Walls: neutral to boring\ Floor: neutral WHITE - is cheerful, particularly when used with warm colors like red, yellow and orange. Effect: disconcerning\ Association:\ Positive: clean, crisp, bright\ Negative: empty, sterile\ Character: There are a lot of psychological and\ physiological justifications for not using white as a\ dominant color.\ Ceiling: empty, no design objections-helps diffuse light\ sources and reduce shadows\ Walls: neutral to empty, sterile, without energy\ Floor: touch-inhibiting (not to be walked upon) PURPLE is sedative and soothing. It suggests a stately or\ melancholy atmosphere.\ - Cheerfulness or cowardice, cheapness.\ Effect: subduing\ Association:\ Positive: dignified, exclusive\ Negative: lonely, mournful, pompous, conceited\ Character: Purple is a mixture of red and blue (the two\ colors that are psychologically most opposed). Purple can\ appear delicate and rich, or unsettling and degenerate.\ Ceiling: disconcerting, subduing\ Walls: heavy, overpowering\ Floor: fleeting, magical BLUE\ is peaceful and tranquil. It reduces excitability and therefore\ helps one to concentrate.\ Effect: retiring, relaxing\ Association:\ Positive: calm, sober, secure, comfortable, noble\ Negative: frightening, depressing, melancholy, cold\ Character: Blue appears to be transparent, wet, cool, and\ relaxing. Opposite to red, blue will decrease a person's blood\ pressure and pulse rate.\ Ceiling: celestial, cool, receding (if light), heavy and oppressive\ (if dark)\ Walls: cool and distant (if light), encouraging and space\ deepening (if dark)\ Floor: inspiring feeling of effortless movement (if light),\ substantial (if dark) GREEN has a cooling quality and it acts as a sedative.\ Effect: retiring, relaxing\ Association:\ Positive: tranquil, refreshing, quiet, natural\ Negative: common, tiresome, guilty\ Character: Contrary to red, when looking at green the eye\ focuses exactly on the retina, which makes green the most\ restful color to the eye. Green can symbolize nature but\ also mold and sickness.\ Ceiling: protective, reflection on the skin can be\ unattractive\ Walls: cool, secure, calm, reliable, passive, irritating if\ glaring (electric green)\ Floor: natural (if not too saturated), soft, relaxing, cold (if\ towards blue PINK Effect: lively (bubble-gum pink), calming (light pink)\ Association:\ Positive: lively, calming, intimate\ Negative: too sweet, weak\ Character: Pink must be handled carefully. It is\ generally considered feminine, but depends much on\ the nuance used (bubble-gum pink, or old rose)\ Ceiling: delicate, comforting\ Walls: aggression-inhibiting, intimate, too sweet if\ not grayed down\ Floor: too delicate, not used very often BLACK Effect: ominous\ Association:\ Positive: deep, abstract\ Negative: dungeonlike, night, grief, death\ Character: Black is associated with oppressive\ power, darkness, and the unknown. In architecture it\ is often used to make something appear as receding,\ such as the HVAC in a ceiling.\ Ceiling: hollow to oppressive\ Walls: ominous, dungeonlike\ Floor: odd, abstract Color usage - residential\ Colors used within the home must be tolerated by the whole family. If members of a family\ have tastes which differ widely, they may be satisfied by selecting the colors of their own\ rooms. Color usage - commercial\ The main objectives in determining the color scheme of a commercial installation are to\ provide colors which are rich, definite, and harmonious which will be easy to live with,\ and which will contribute to the efficiency and well-being of all who tenant the building. Color usage - industrial\ The kind of artificial light must be taken into consideration in the design of industrial interiors.\ It will depend largely upon the type of operation performed. It is equally\ important that the proper kind of light be used to avoid shadows and glare Color usage - institutional\ The interiors of institutions such as are carefully studied to provide\ the most favorable environment for patients, visitors and staff. The aim should be to\ provide an atmosphere that is friendly and inviting. Color and illumination are probably the\ most important of the visual elements. Color usage - educational\ While a stimulating atmosphere is desirable in a teaching situation, care should\ be exercised to prevent overstimulation, which may produce restlessness, tension and\ fatigue over children and teaching staff. COLOR AS AN EXPRESSION ELEMENT OF DESIGN Bezold effect\ It describes how our perception of color is affected by its surrounding color.\ The uniform color of a room\ The effect of the visible size on color\ Colors on a non-uniform background\ The effect of color on form\ Depends on lightness, it can still be perceived as\ one color\ Movement; spreading effect; continuation of broken\ image\ Same color appears lighter or darker than the other\ It may or may not appear as bigger or smaller with\ different background Color theory - Monochrome (one color plus black and white) - Complimentary (two opposite colors plus black and white) - Analogous (three adjacent colors plus blck and white) - Split complimentary 9one color plus two other side its opposite color plus black and white) - Double split complementary (two colors either side of its opposite colors plus black and white) - Triadic (three equivalent colors plus black and white)