Teaching colour to architecture students

Abstract

Teaching principles of colour to architecture students is a challenge different from teaching colour to artists. In the education of architects, the aspect of colour plays rather a marginal role and in the architectural planning process it is often considered a component that is secondary to the design of the plans or the shape and structure of the building. In the actual experience of architecture however, colour is experienced via the materials that make up the surfaces of buildings and spaces, and therefore colour constitutes an integral part of the perceptual process. How can this dichotomy between reception and production of architecture be resolved? How can students of architecture be taught to imagine the initial ideas about architectural shape and space with light, colour and texture right from the start, instead of merely draping a finished design at the end of the design process and thus disregarding the role of these materials as intrinsic components of the design process? How can this integrative approach be realised in teaching?