Charles Gwathmey Residence and Studio
Nowadays, it is not unusual for you to see buildings of any color. It is no longer enough to rely on strange and rare colorful facades to attract the eye, and architects with different abilities must find ways to concave and strange shapes. However, in the long history of the development of architectural design theory, the choice of color is not as "taboo" as it is now. Which colors have architects rejected? Are there any colors that architectural designs cannot adopt? Today, Harper's Bazaar Art solves the puzzle for you.
without restraint
For a long time after the dawn of modernism, architects invariably stood against color. It's hard to say whether this stems from a superstition of authority, after all, Le Corbusier, the flag bearer who carried the banner of modernism, was a critic of architectural color in the 1920s, denying any importance that color might have in the construction of architectural space.
The Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier
However, "things must be reversed" has always made some sense. When the city developed to be as boring as copy and paste, the architect's demand for color can be described as "bottoming out", and once liberated, it was out of control, breaking stereotypes and doing what ordinary people could not imagine. For them, there is no taboo at all!
Building designed by Bruno Taut
Among the architects of the modern movement, Bruno Taut from Germany was particularly good at color grading. As one of the most advocating of the use of color, his bold color matching shocked Corbusier's jaw: "Oh my God, Taut is simply colorblind!" The modernist residential complex he designed in 1915 in southeast Berlin is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but when it was inaugurated, it angered locals who threatened to shut up the architect himself.
A modernist residential complex designed by Bruno Taut in the southeast of Berlin, left-right: before restoration - after restoration
In fact, Le Corbusier in the purist camp has no right to ridicule Taut. Only a few years after criticizing color architecture, he also "defected" from his original position and turned to the embrace of color, saying that "man needs color to live, it is as important as water and fire".
Another name that can't be avoided when it comes to color grading is the Spanish ghost architect Ricardo Bofill. From pink to green or even purple, in its hands, the color of the tower does not exist, and the stunning color matching creates a fantasy world.
Building designed by Ricardo Bofill
The "fear of color" period
Having said that, in the same way that we today call simple, plain color collocations with a "sense of superiority", the purists of the early last century also regarded the colorlessness of architecture as a sign of "education" and "civilization". Intricate decoration and color are subordinate to the old society, and new era architecture should avoid this kind of unnecessary "painting snake". Except for the black, white and gray colors of natural building materials themselves, any other colored building is frivolous and decadent.
Designed by Mies van der Rohe, German Pavilion of the Barcelona World's Fair
People seem to smell "color" that is, change their faces. From the famous Barcelona Pavilion at the Barcelona World's Fair, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, to the Guggenheim Museum, a New York landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, all-over white walls are in sight. At this time, the so-called "color that cannot be applied" is not a color taboo formed by regional culture, but a self-proclaimed high-level aesthetic.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Guggenheim Museum in New York
At that time, in addition to the trend influence of design concepts, most buildings did not have bright colors on the outside and there was no lack of more realistic reasons. The external environment is not conducive to exposed building façade materials, so it is often wise for architects to choose materials that do not fade significantly, such as a range of materials such as masonry, terracotta, cement, concrete and gray, beige and earth.
The Brasilia Parliament Building designed by Oscar Niemeyer
The "architectural color" here has been divided into two meanings: one refers to the inherent color of building materials, and the other is the color used for architectural paint (that is, pigment). And "colorless" means "no artificial addition", returning to the primary color. As Corbusier said, "The idea of form precedes the idea of color ... The color depends entirely on the shape of the material. Therefore, when new materials based on reinforced concrete and glass were widely used in International Style buildings, it caused an uproar.
Mies van der Rowe co-designed the West Gram Tower in New York with Philip Johnson
In 1958, Mies van der Rowe and Philip Johnson co-designed the Seagram Building in New York, the world's first "glass box" high-rise building; During the same period, the Pirelli Tower, another icon of internationalist architectural style, was designed by the Italian architect Gio Ponti. American writer Tom Wolfe angrily accuses the glass monsters of changing two-thirds of the world's metropolitan skyline and making cities cookie-cutter and lifeless.
Pirelli Tower designed by Gio Ponti
But apart from the nature of human beings like repeating machines, the popularity of aesthetic trends is nothing more than a circle. Architectural design's rejection of color is no accident and has returned after modernism. Perhaps tired of the dazzling and splendid architecture of postmodernism, some architects who finally want to change the "porridge side dish" have once again abandoned color and returned to the path of white architecture.
Groningen Music-Video Pavilion by Peter Eisenman
The Jubilee Church designed by Richard Meier
Apartment in Stuttgart designed by Richard Meyer
The famous "New York Five", which came out in the 1980s and 1990s, is called the "White School", and its works are white and pure, so it is not difficult to see their inheritance of Le Corbusier's ideas, while the expression of form is more abstract and is considered to be the representative style of "new modernity".
New York Five
Charles Gervasme's Dune House (formerly known as the Haupt Residence)
Taboo or preference?
Although it seems to be dominated by the right to speak of architects, when comparing the choice of architectural colors in history, people can never escape the framework of regional culture, period and architectural function. Maybe you can accept a colorful museum, a pink house like a princess house, or a transparent office building, but can you imagine a blue oriental temple? Talking about color away from function and geography is no different from playing hooligans.
London's New Riverbank Apartments, visitors can clearly see the interior details from the outside.
As early as the Western Medieval Period, religion was one of the key factors influencing the development of architecture. Since Christianity was made the state religion of the Roman Empire, Christian art has become the "only" art, and Christian architecture has become the only type of public building that was almost important in the world at that time. As a result, the architectural colors began to be dominated by dark colors such as brown, earth yellow and gray-green, which showed a darker sense of calmness.
Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
By the early Renaissance, the Italian theorist Leon Battista Alberti was quite knowledgeable about the observation of religious architecture, believing that in temples, the most pleasing to god must be pure and simple colors, "like life", so he strongly advocated simple white.
Ancient Greek Parthenon
However, when the scene switches to the Eastern Temple, most of what people see is red and yellow. In ancient times, yellow was a symbol of emperors and nobles, while red symbolized solemnity and wealth. Since its introduction, Buddhism has been revered by the imperial power, and most of them have been built by imperial decrees, so they are mostly red and yellow. It should be known that ordinary people's houses can not be used in these two colors, which is called "taboo".
Traditional Chinese temple
Contrary to the magnificent and atmospheric red and yellow high-purity color scheme of Chinese architecture, Japan, which is separated by a sea, is refined in architectural color. Although Japanese architecture has been influenced by the eastern transmission of Tang culture, there is no lack of Shadows of Han and Tang Dynasties, but its aesthetic core is still the simplicity dominated by the aesthetics of dry landscapes and sulus. Writer Junichiro Tanizaki once wrote in an essay appreciating architecture: "We can see flickering lights sprinkled on the dimly yellow walls everywhere, hurting the Buddha in the hope of preserving the rest of his hard life." A faint Zen in it jumped out on the paper.
Japan National Treasure of Japan Tea Room Waiting Hermitage
The Dry Landscape Garden of the Yudo Museum of Art, Japan
It can be seen that the importance of color selection is no less important to the expression of architectural language than material and shape. If the buildings with special historical significance and cultural properties are "painted" beyond recognition, the effect is like a pink elephant standing in the room, the sense of existence is indeed very strong, but the embarrassing sense of disharmony will always linger.
Of course, in today's world where everyone chases individuality and pays attention to deviance, in addition to the above-mentioned objects that need "special care", the style trend is only a cycle of reincarnation, and architects have long been dismissive of the rules. What color buildings do you like? Welcome to leave a message to share.
Editor, Wen Xie Weiwei
This article is original by Harper's Bazaar Art Department and may not be reproduced without permission