Appearance
Colour dynamics: visual perception and illusion
By offering minimal visual information the recesses and projections of ribbed cladding can cause a visual illusion.
Colour functions: blending
When selecting colours for buildings, the site becomes important. There are two basic strategies: to harmonise or to contrast the architectural form. We begin with blending.
Colour functions: contrasting
The second colour strategy sees the building as a focal point. This is a strategy that uses colour to refer to concepts disassociated with the setting of the building.
Colour harmonics
The secret of a colour harmony is demonstrated in the palettes of many well known paintings in which, generally speaking, chromatic harmony results from the simplicity of the constituent colour scheme.
Colour perception: colour interaction
We often think of colour as existing outside us but its ultimate experience resides in our brain and when seen in the context of different coloured backgrounds our perception can play tricks.
Colour selection techniques
The best way to study colour is to use it' as a maxim common among designers who care about colour in the built environment.
Dynamics of colour: the effects of surface finish, shade and shadow
The quality of a surface finish, such as matte or glossy, and its profile together with the incidence of shade and shadow provide yet another dynamic that will help to determine the ultimate perception of its colour.
Dynamics of colour: reflected light
The appearance of a colour can also be modified by reflected light, i.e. light reflected back on to a building from the colour of nearby planes and surfaces.
The dynamics of colour: effects of size and distance
Experience of colour in the built environment is affected by many variables including size, distance, surface quality and viewing conditions.
The dynamics of colour: orientation to sunlight and colour constancy
A further dynamic affecting our colour experience refers to the orientation of a building to the direction of sunlight. There is also a compensating aspect of our colour perception in the brain known as colour constancy.
The dynamics of colour: sunlight and electric light
We would not be able to experience colour without the incidence of light; both the direction of sunlight and different electric light sources profoundly effecting colour appearance.
