R Magazine, Ex-TeenArt_Issue 1_Authenticity Jun. 2015 | Page 17

Should architecture stand out

by its
colours?

It is often said that the chromatic particularities of architecture depend on the culture and the history of the actual city, region or country. Color has often been used for its decorative characteristics in religious or public constructions, or to distinguish a singular construction
from others that are said popular. However, without talking about
achromic architecture since I think architecture is always made of
colors, we observe the use of a restricted color range in our environment. Used as an identity symbol, a branding element, or an advertising
appeal, some colors are yet more present in our streets than others.

The praise of the raw
The first way to integrate color work in architectural conception corresponds to the choice of material and its assembly. Through their textures,
raw materials bring out the implementation technic or the intrinsic characteristics of the material. Smooth or rough, raw cement only reveals
its intern structure through mechanic or chemical treatment, which models its surface by making its different components apparent. The brick
can also present a range of colored, weathered, or industrial textures.
The composition work necessarily goes through a graphic work, which
can be noticed when one observes the edifice in overall. I consider architecture as an art and a technic that could and that should be appreciated and judged by everyone. The thought proceeds by contrast. Thus,
color is able to reveal to everyone the perceptions of the urban landscape
that we have by accentuating or extenuating certain built particularities.
It brings out the architectural qualities like shadow can play with light.

Color as a material
Color is also defined as an essential material in architecture. Besides, we
can find it in the heart of some architects’ works. A color applied on a vertical surface transforms the perception the person who is experimenting it
has of the space. Color too often intervenes at the end of the construction
in order to harmonize, enhance or decorate what has already been built. We
are often captured by the beauty of the colored urban landscapes that are
present in various cities around the world. In Montreal and in my street in
particular, I admire on a daily base the vivid colors that the occupants have
chosen to paint their roofs or the fronts of their houses. On top of its identity
potential, color provides a feeling of joy and happiness to people who look at
it. In order to have this urban cheerfulness back, could we build with color?
Color has an undeniable advantage: it can be applied on all supports
that seem adequate. The particularity on which I wished to bring attention is its application on glass. At that moment, color becomes a material and the light that goes through it makes it alive. Stained-glass
window or tinted glasses are an inexhaustible source of color sets
that move and change depending on the moment of the day. Could
this material in motion that stimulates our senses each hour of the
day change its appearance according to the seasons? And why not?
Writing : Gabrielle Ovinet
Translation : Alanie Genest
Layout : Liliana Lemus