Role and functions of colour in the drawings of Portuguese architects (original) (raw)
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Expanding the Senses of Drawing Through Colour
By equating the creative use of colour with the disciplinary boundaries of architecture, this paper integrates observations, reflections and insights on a variety of alternative graphic strategies, and also expands the meanings attached to a drawing when the significance of colour is highlighted within the creative process of architectural design.
Drawing: the active desire of design. A case of designing architecture
CROSSING THE LINE CONFERENCE, 2014
We aim to discuss that which generally refers to the contribution of drawing in the understanding of the design project, and particularly in relation to architecture. From a heuristic perspective, it is accepted that drawing recreates 'ways of seeing' which facilitate the project. Throughout the project, drawing contributes in supporting and stimulating the idea's development in accordance with the stratified process of design. We present a case study of the project drawings by considering the work of the architect Bernardo Rodrigues (Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal, 1972). He got a degree in Architecture from FAUP, Oporto University, 1996. Their architectural projects are spread across USA, China, Japan, Dubai, and of course Portugal. His work, focused on sensory perception and matter, has been the subject of national and internationally thoughts. According to Bernardo Rodrigues architecture discipline must returns closely back to nature, therefore, supports the idea of sustainability through ethics projected in architectural shape through the material building and its environment. "The twenty-first century should be the return to the classic and timeless categories of social planning and then urban", the architect said. The experimental nature of the projects leads to its fair recognition that is according to the original essence of architecture while thought about the human being on earth. The Bernardo Rodrigues work stands out through sustainability using materials that replying the energy yield but also to poetic dwelling the world. Thus, drawing is more than the heuristic representation of the project of architecture. The character of representation is contaminated by all that is marginal to design project is disseminated through it ethically and materially, joining opposites and differences through a poetic desire expressed on the drawing. The architectural images of Bernardo Rodrigues design results from a multiple methodological contemporary process which derives an architecture freed from traditional instrumental constraints and thus becomes an object that questions whether the world and their representations. Thus, the subject of representation goes beyond the functional consideration of the design, because the different instrumental drawings influences the perception of the subject and the author. The analysis seeks to contribute to a critical and multidisciplinary discussion between drawing and architecture through the drawing practice and designing in order to stimulate the interdisciplinary understanding in generating ideas and solutions that the architectural design should provide.
Congreso Internacional de Expresión Gráfica Arquitectónica, 2022
Álvaro Siza Viera began in March 1977 the constant, methodical, and continuous, almost compulsive, recording of drawings in A4 notebooks. This record, which spans over the 22 years he spent working at the Bairro da Malagueira project in Évora, allows us to understand his conception and design process, and reflects the ability of drawing to serve as a tool for investigation through design. This type of record, far beyond the record of the real usually made in a travel notebook, constitutes an essential testimony of the author and his work, but also of architecture and its conception process. The research used 48 notebooks dedicated to Malagueira and presents the indications of a research process centered in the observation and design of the territory and in the imagination of its future as a basis for the progressive construction of an urban plan, of its moments and elements. Based on this knowledge it is possible to affirm the character of drawing to bring together elements from the field of history and architecture that are close to the place and the themes of the ongoing project. Drawing brings together the possibilities of the transformation of this memory at the service of the present in the construction of the future and the architectural project.
Colour as Spiritual Significance in Contemporary Artistic and Architectural Creation
The present research paper aims to be a reflexion and an observation of the way colour is used in contemporary art and architecture as a means to recreate the artist's and architect's desired significance. For this, colour is firstly understood as a vital essence, a 'significant language' associated to life itself; comparing different theories, colour is then further defined as a fundamental essence of art itself: a vital component that 'ensouls' forms, and that allows for the adequate means to express the inner significance of the artwork. In order for colour to reach these depths in art, the artistic creation is also comprehended and defined as a sort of alchemy: a means by which mere materials become gold (bearers of a deep spiritual significance). A creation, thus, be it an architectural space or a painting, is a visual representation of the artist's inner life, but in it's significance lies these 'gold' essences: the profound emotional and spiritual significances, of which colour is indissociable. In this way, the phenomenon of colour, the research paper corroborates, is not something that can be applied post-creation but an essential tool of the creative process itself, a fundamental aspect of the alchemical process of creation. But how are these ideas applied in contemporary art and architecture? Bringing together multiple examples of contemporary art and architecture (briefly analysing architectural spaces, paintings, and new sculptural spatial art forms), the research paper aims to further reflect and consider the different ways in which colour is used in the artistic phenomena in order to amplify and accommodate the artwork's emotional and spiritual significances. The examples selected, aim to present a broad analysis of each type of significance and how it is achieved creating categories for each. In architecture three categories are defined as follows: the 'white' approach (such as the spaces of John Pawson), the 'colour-material-space' approach (such as Peter Zumthor's atmospheres) and the 'colour-significance' approach, defined mainly by the cornerstone example of Luis Barragan. In painting, a two folded approach is defined: the use of colour as 'colour-subject' (with examples ranging from the impressionists to Anselm Kiefer), and 'colour-colour' (defined by colour being used for it's own sake). Lastly, the sculptural spatial artworks, analyses colour uses as 'colour-object' (Richard Serra and Anish Kapoor) and 'colour-dimension' with James Turrell. Throughout the various examples, it is made clear that the colours used are in perfect sync with the spiritual and emotional significance the work aims to transmit. The research paper thus, further shows that colour is a fundamental essence that allows for the artistic vision, with all it's significance, to be created and materialised. Colour is not only a component of art, but one of the main aspects that most embodies it's significance.
This paper aims to reveal the importance that the study of light and colour should take in the decisions of the architectural project from its beginning to its implementation on the working site. The colour among architects is often thought as something that is added at the end of the architectural process, often already at the working site, and when in doubt always using white. According to this idea, Werner Spillmann observed that colour decisions usually came when everything is already determined; that is, most often colour was considered in the very last moment within an extremely short time period without any consideration of the building structure, function and surroundings [2]. On the other hand, light is considered a mysterious and elusive entity, something that many architects talk about, but only few can really master. And if we consider artificial lighting, most of them rely on electrical engineers to control the space appearance when sunlight is not enough, or at nightime. At a time where it is increasingly impossible to control all the aspects of expertise, specific legislation and areas of knowledge that contribute to the development of an architectural project it is natural that the architect look for experts to help him in these various areas. But he should not give up on controling fields that intrinsically belong to architecture and its presentation (meaning communication). And colour and light are certainly among the most important ones for this goal. For this reason Light and Colour should be considered a specific branch of specialisation that could help architects to convey their objectives concerning aesthetical, functional, ergonomic and comfort issues. Colour consultants should work together with light designers to promote the knowledge that architects need to communicate the complex and transdisciplinary objectives of architecture. To illustrate these premises we present some results of our practice both as Colour Consultant and as Light and Colour teacher at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Lisbon.
AIC2016 Interim Meeting: Color in Urban Life, Book of Proceedings, 2016
There is a strong concern in the Chilean academic art community regarding the actual condition of colour training in design and art related schools. In spite of the incorporation of some aspects of colour education in the curriculum of art and design careers during the last decade, these changes don’t seem to be sufficient and, as a consequence, most students don’t reach the basic academic skills for satisfactory use of colour. This research seeks to demonstrate the lack of colour training in Chilean universities. Accordingly, this study shows the existence and the need of self-developed methods of working with colour by students and graduates of art and design related majors. For this purpose, an online survey was taken, proposing a brief diagnostic test to evaluate the collective and individual level of colour knowledge. As preliminary results, from the sample of 50 participants, 42 of them (84%) answered to have knowledge on colour theory and application, but from this group, only an alarming 12% answered correctly the diagnostic test, confirming the hypothesis of this research. Furthermore, three participants who failed the diagnostic test were chosen to be interviewed individually, asking them to prepare a colour composition in order to understand and expose their self-developed colour method. Here, all of them indicated that the first step in their method was to imagine a colour palette right after the indications, an intuitive approach. Secondly, some interviewees recalled some of their previous work and others looked for references on Internet to complete the task. Then, some of them were modifying intuitively their initial palette by contrasting colours and deciding if any modification was needed, giving further information regarding their self-developed methods, showing that their process is mainly supported by intuition and experience.
Three color strategies in architectural composition
Color Research & Application
This article deals with the possibilities that color affords architectural composition, the strategies facilitated through color as a vocabulary of expression. It primarily focuses on the rules of grammar and syntax of color, and to a lesser degree on the semantic meanings, as this would entail multiple interpretations by the observer. Following an analysis of architectural color classification systems suggested by other authors, we reason that there are three main groups of plastic strategies. These are not mutually exclusive, but rather, complementary to each other: (I) color can influence the perception of the visual properties of architectural shapes; (II) color can describe the building and (III) color can be arranged for its intrinsic value. Each of these strategies deals with a different level of knowledge of the building, which requires both subconscious and conscious mechanisms of identification by the observer. These are the color strategies used by architects to express a particular compositional purpose. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2012
THE ART AND APPRECIATION OF COLOURS IN ARCHITECTURE
ACA 2019, 2019
According to the father of Organic Architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright as rightly said, that the mother art is Architecture, without Architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization. Art and Architecture should live as a family or live as husband and wife. No Architecture is good without the application of art. A building without art is like Bread without butter or tea without sugar. The use of colour in Architecture has been effectively applied since the early ages in both India as well as Europe, Middle Eastern and Chinese cultures. In Italy, during the Baroque era, architecture was assigned the role of conveying emotions and captivating the imagination of the masses visiting churches. Colour played a vital role in fulfilling this architectural ambition. Following that trajectory of radical use of colour and blending it with his curvilinear fluid forms that were done by the master architect Antonio Gaudi during his time. He was perhaps the most radical in his experimentation of colour and architectural form and showcasing to the world the magic that could happen when the two combined. Colour plays a significant role in the perception of a space in the human mind. When lighter shades are used, it makes the space appear bigger. On the other hand, using darker shades make the same space look smaller. Hence colours can be used to adjust the proportion of a building space. In the Expression of material, we saw in the example of falling water that light painted materials seem lighter than dark coloured materials. Other visual effects of colour can make things look further away or more distant; larger or smaller; cooler or warmer. For example, a cool blue bathroom and warm red living room. This paper is a review of literature that were collected from documents, journals, books, periodical and other materials that will explore the key importance of art and appreciation of colours in Architecture.
The development of new computer tools has greatly affected architectural language itself introducing a change within the history of a millenary discipline that could be easily paralleled to the discovery of linear perspective during the Renaissance. However, architectural drawing has not been affected in the same way –disregarding 3D modelling and computer renders-; that is to say, not the obvious revolution borne from the extraordinary capacity to work on a virtual three dimensional space and the possibility to anticipate the hyper-realistic final outlook of an architectural design but an equivalent key turn in 2D architectural drawing. In fact, architectural plans look quite the same now as they did before the advent of computer drawing tools. Our reflections here are based on the following questions that could be understood as starting hypothesis: Should architectural drawing disregard the theme of representation? Can a man transformed territory, a technologically advanced building or a changing cityscape be depicted or represented likewise? Is it possible to develop different graphic narratives to acquire connotative, evocative and reference values that may highlight the architectural qualities of every particular architectural project in a customized way according to its specific values? And last, but not least, can different drawing techniques and graphic resources generate design strategies? This paper discusses how architects may need to transform conventional modes of representation according to the content they want to convey. This is not only to explore the design strategy as a result of the graphic process developed throughout the project or the different graphic narratives used but also to reflect on the search for a specific mode of drawing. Each project should have its own way to be drawn. The final graphic results, however neat they may be, are not the main goal of this research; it is more a question of specific drawings for specific narratives, on the one hand, and the record of the graphic process as a design strategy, on the other. This research also arises from the assumption that we should accept as a starting point that the work of architecture can be transmitted through drawings, without abandoning the usual graphic codes, but enriching them through their processing or simple selection, making more effective graphic communication in order to evidence the qualities of the building as opposed to others that may be relegated, nuanced or denied. The use of diagrams, photo-collages or analytical drawings may well work as different notations of graphic thoughts. Finally, our scope of study is focused on a series of drawings produced during the diploma year of the degree in architecture at the University of Alicante in the Internationalization Studio.
CHROMATIC HARMONY IN ARCHITECTURE AND THE WORK OF ARTACHO JURADO IN SÃO PAULO
Colour Design and Creativity, 2010
The purpose of this paper is to present the partial results of a research still in progress as part of the Architecture Course of the University of São Paulo, focusing on the use of color in the development of architectural design. At its present stage, the researchers are reviewing the production of a number of architects and designers whose work, under the point of view of design methodology, has been somehow distinctive in the use of color, with focus on color insertion processes, perception theories, and color harmony. The review is based on comparative studies of the results so far obtained. João Artacho Jurado was born in São Paulo in 1903 to parents who were Spanish immigrants. He lived with his family in an anarchist community without attending school—a circumstance that made of him a self-taught person. He began his professional career dealing with signs and lettering, and later on, from the 40s though the 60s, he gradually became one of the most productive builders in São Paulo. His projects were emphatically rejected by the elite of Brazilian architects greatly influenced by the Modern Movement in Architecture, which, in Brazil, reached its climax with the inauguration of Brasília in the 60s. At that time, São Paulo, in particular, was exposed to the influence of some European architects who settled in São Paulo and developed important projects that reinforced the vocation for a more rationalistic architecture. Jurado’s designs, however, were extraordinarily well received by the representatives of a middle class that was moving up the social ladder and seeking to dtisplay its opulence. Such acceptance could have been considered as a normal occurrence if i were not for the daring compositions of form and color adopted by Jurado. The buildings designed and constructed by him have maintained their high commercial value up to present times, and perhaps on account of their exotic nature continue to be in very high demand among artists and intellectuals. One may say that Jurado revolutionized the real estate market of his time by developing audacious projects and concepts that fulfilled the aspirations of a middle class in expansion. Our intention here is to discuss the use of color harmony in architecture on the basis of Jurado’s work, which greatly pleased some groups, and at the same time, displeased other groups in the same degree. This fact alone makes it difficult for anyone to take a neutral stance, as it could be expected, in regard to architectural concepts that were developed with essentially commercial purposes in mind. This paper intends to summarize some theoretical concepts and to define a few methodology aspects of the research.