Shifting and unstable: The role of colour and light in affording multiple readings of architecture

Abstract

The paper will explore the transformative capabilities of colour and light in architecture through selected projects from contemporary architectural practices and designers. Colour, which is generated through the play of light, is never static, and has the capability to be used as an instrument to tune and transform architectural space. Through the constantly changing conditions of daylight, coloured filters, projected images, and technological developments in the control of light sources, multiple readings of space are generated. Drawing on an interview with Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos of UNStudio, based in Amsterdam, and considering the work of the American architect, Steven Holl, alongside an emerging field of architect-designers, the paper argues that the metaphysical properties reflected and projected coloured light can be seen as instrumental to the synergic design of architectural space [1].