because of Covid , the activity of the study groups has become even more intense , because by now we have developed a culture of organising online events at a low cost ( sometimes free ) and accessible for the participation of brilliant minds , also from disadvantaged countries , who could never afford to participate in paid in-person events . Moreover , since 2017 , AIC coordinates the ICD ( International Colour Day on March 21st ), sends its members a quarterly newsletter that refers information received from all over the world , and also publishes an annual review in which the activities of all member states and study groups are reported . There are also training activities organised as optional workshops prior to Congresses and Conferences . Furthermore , since 1975 , AIC has awarded the prestigious Judd Award to world experts in colour science every two years . In the last 46 years , many world-renowned experts , such as Günter Wyszecki in 1979 , David MacAdam in 1983 , Robert Hunt in 1987 , Lucia Ronchi in 2011 , and Françoise Viénot in 2015 , were granted this award . In 2021 , at the 14th AIC Congress , it was awarded to John McCann who worked for many years with Edwin Land , creator of the Retinex theory of colour perception and founder of the Polaroid Corp . in 1937 . Since 2017 , AIC has also awarded the CADE ( Colour in Art , Design and Environment ) Award to world experts in the field of design , arts , architecture and humanities . In 2021 , the CADE award was given to the renowned French colour designer and visual artist Jean-Philippe Lenclos .
Would you like to tell us briefly about how the Colour scene has evolved in recent decades ? It would take a whole book to answer this short question . Instead , I will try to be concise in outlining some of the areas of action . Colour only exists in our heads , so colorimetry is constantly evolving to try to describe a complex cognitive phenomenon , which has not yet been fully explained from a scientific point of view . Our visual system does not work as a measuring instrument or a camera , it is much more intelligent and has evolved in this way to make us see the world around us in a stable way even when the lighting changes . This is an open research topic . Colour in industrial products , fashion , interior design , urban environment , communication , cinema , television , food and commerce in general ... it really sells . Knowing how to predict or create colour trends over time is a key element in the economic success of businesses . Colour in art is timeless . As a scientist , its rationality escapes me and that is precisely why I find it thrilling at the same time .
Professor Rossi , you were also President of the Gruppo del Colore - Italian Colour Association from 2010 to 2018 . What are your thoughts about the future of Colour and what are the biggest challenges for an association like AIC ? In fact , my election to the presidency of the AIC is a positive recognition of the high level of the Italian colour research and professional movement . But it is also due to the strong activism of the Italian Colour Association , whose first foundation , thanks to the late Claudio Oleari , dates back to 1995 and since then , a conference has been organised every year . In 2010 , when I became President , I also involved other European colour associations in the organisation . So it was that our association ’ s Colour Conference became internationalised , thus organising sessions exclusively in English , publishing peer-reviewed proceedings in English , ensuring a registration fee of less than one hundred euros ( or less ) for experts and young people from all over Europe and , not least , inviting scholars each year to come to one of our beautiful cities to talk about colour . Marcello Picollo , the president who succeeded me , has successfully continued this work since the beginning of his term in 2018 .
The Italian Colour Association has been awarding an annual prize since 2015 : to which professionals ? The National Colour Prize was established on the date you mention with regulations to guarantee impartiality and with two different levels of selection and evaluation by two separate bodies . The aim is to give recognition to people working in Italy who have distinguished themselves in the culture and sciences of colour and light , and the technical , scientific , cultural and professional sectors related to them , even in very different disciplines .
I remember some names ; can you name them all for our readers ? In 2015 , it was awarded to the chef Gualtiero Marchesi , in 2016 to the photographer Franco Fontana , in 2017 to the psychologist Walter Gerbino , in 2018 to the fashion designer Roberto Capucci , in 2019 to the industrialist Adolfo Guzzini , in 2020 to the scholar Narciso Silvestrini , and in 2021 to the master of cinematographic photography Vittorio Storaro , who received the award during the 14th AIC Congress giving a fascinating lecture on his experience and professional history in front of an international audience .
Disseminating science means making it accessible to non-experts , but also without distorting it . What do you think about it ? In my letter of candidacy for the presidency of the AIC , I blew the whistle on the everincreasing “ predators of science ”, unveiled the false myths of open access and talked about the ethics of accessible science dissemination , aimed especially at young people and those who have little money but excellent ideas . Organising expensive events for a select few does not serve to create new opportunities nor to promote the advancement of culture , science and profession . It was with this political idea that the 14th AIC Congress in 2021 – organised for the first time in Italy – completely changed the organisational paradigm compared to the previous one in 2017 in Korea . The focus was placed much more on content rather than appearance , and the volunteer work of the Italian association members allowed participation at a cost that was a quarter of the previous congress . The challenge for the AIC , as stated in its statute , is to make national associations that apply to organise one of its events understand that these are not economic opportunities but scientific and cultural opportunities .
Tell us about the relationship between light and colour , given your role as director of the two Masters in Lighting Design & Technology and Color Design & Technology at the Politecnico di Milano . Here I ’ ll let you in on a secret ... which in reality many people know , namely light and colour are the same thing ; it ’ s just that some people pretend not to know . There are two essential elements , vision and circadian system , that lead to the same conclusion . Vision is the sense that contributes most to our qualitative assessment of the world around us through the psychological and perceptual sensation we call image . The image is the cognitive perceptual result of the interaction between lighting , with its chromatic characteristics , and the colours of the environment we are observing , which diffusely reflect light back to our eyes . There is also a lot of talk , especially abroad , about circadian lighting and circadian products for interiors after the 2017 Nobel Prize for Medicine about Circadian research . While the idea may seem valid and healthy in the first instance , the design approach is often wrong . A single product , or lighting design , is not enough to stimulate the circadian system properly . It is the design of the environment as a whole that must be circadian . Let us keep in mind that we always instinctively avoid looking directly at light sources because of glare , while on the other hand we are constantly observing the surfaces of the environment around us . The light that our eyes receive , and which contributes to the visual system as well as the circadian system , is almost always reflected or diffused from the surfaces of the environment , which in turn have physical characteristics that reflect back to our eyes a light generally modified by the that coming out of the luminaires . That is why lighting and colour in interiors should always be designed together . But here we enter partly into the field of holistic design and its philosophical aspects . It will take time .
Professor Rossi , how about today ? In the short to medium term , I would be content to see software tools supporting the BIM methodology that can manage both lighting design and colour design , and a physically correct evaluation of the interaction between lighting spectra and spectral reflectances of surfaces . For the last twenty years , lighting design verification has been computerised , and product characteristics are available in databases . Today , the colour design of spaces is still done by hand using colour fan decks , so there is a lack of that physical data that would be necessary for software to make physically correct calculations , and more importantly , this data is not fully accessible to colour professionals in their design practice .
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