Technology: The Use of Colour Systems in Architecture
Colour is a natural phenomenon, the product of the refraction, reflection and absorption of light. As such, it is a genetic factor in the origin and diversification of life on earth. The entire environment is a colour system that guarantees the survival of innumerable species. The creation of pigments in the plant world serves not only the process of photosynthesis and thus the growth of organisms; it is also a means of orientation for innumerable forms of life. Our sense of the beauty of natural colours is thus based on an intuitive understanding of a system of symbols that provide a means of communication for more than 20 million species; and man is constantly transforming and extending this natural order through the colour design of his cultural realm. This, in turn, reflects social needs for orientation, repulsion, attraction, disguise, identity, behavioural control and socio-cultural communication.
