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Colour Psychology Through Architecture.
I explore colour psychology through architecture, specifically looking at interdependent and generative relationships between colours and emotions. Colour psychology, developed primarily by Carl Jung in the early 20th century, looks into psychological and physiological reactions that various colours might stimulate, influencing people’s mood, thinking, and even decision-making[i]. Research reveals the nuanced impact of different hues on emotions and cultural perceptions, e.g., cool colours like blue evoke calmness and trust, while warm tones like red incite energy and passion[ii]. Despite scholarly understanding, practical implementation of colour psychology in architecture remains limited, as discussed by McLachlan and McLachlan (2014)[iii]. They highlight architects O’Donnell and Tuomey, and Sauerbruch Hutton who do incorporate colour into their designs, but emphasise the importance of developing individualised colour theories within architectural design to increase its potential impact.
Artists George Shaw and Richard Diebenkorn have influenced the context of my work. Particularly inspiring is Shaw’s interest in urban architecture and photo realistic work, which explores recollections of his childhood and where he grew up. I relate to these sentiments and explore them through my practice. Diebenkorn’s landscapes and use of daytime colour, creating a sense of joy and longing to be outside, also intrigue me.
I create medium/large-scale paintings using the transparency of watercolour as my main media, as the gentle transitions possible between them contribute to the subtlety often associated with psychological states. My intention is for others to experience the different emotions associated with colours.
Firstly, I used architectural landscapes that affect me personally. ‘Reading’ 2023, presented in the first Autumn exhibition, was an A1 board pen and watercolour painting of my photograph of Reading town centre, using colours reflecting my feelings of living and studying at University. Green represents my hopes of succeeding, yellow and orange represent my happiness, blue reflects tranquil times, and red symbolises my excitement.
I then moved on to iconic buildings to explore the impact certain colours have on their own. Research suggests black stimulates mystery and power, red provokes love and urgency, and blue is meant to stimulate openness and communication. To explore this, ‘London’s Psychological Landscape’ 2023, presented in the second Autumn exhibition, was a series of three pen and watercolour canvas paintings (16×20 inches each). Each depicted the same scene of Big Ben but in a different colour to allow me to establish how strong the connection was between individual colours and their supposed feelings and emotions.
After focusing on just one building per artwork, I further developed my practice by creating ‘Building on Mixed Emotions’ 2024 for the Spring exhibition, merging two iconic buildings together. I chose Big Ben to symbolise power in London, and merged this with the Empire State Building in America which symbolises industry, creativity, and finance. Whilst both buildings affect different people and are in very different styles, both are such powerful building in their countries. I therefore painted them black and white to provoke feelings of power, industry, and creativity, and merging these gave a sense of hope, as represented by green sky. Furthermore, joining two halves of buildings with similar silhouettes makes the viewer question their recollection of what each building really looks like and creates a confusion between reality and what they’re looking at.
My summative piece ‘Iconic London’ 2024 is a landscape I created that combines four iconic London buildings that I have visited – Buckingham Palace, Royal Albert Hall, The Shard, and Big Ben. I merged of the two buildings to connect to ‘Building on Mixed Emotions’ and also used trees/bushes similar to those in ‘London’s Psychological Landscape’. The black in the buildings represents the power that the structures have on the UK population, whilst white/grey symbolises the more corporate side of The Shard. Red represents the excitement people feel when visiting London, especially seeing a royal residency, and experiencing Royal Albert Hall concerts. Blue represents calmer times and the trust we have in key members of the royal family. Furthermore, red, white, and blue also symbolise the colours of the Union Jack which is appropriate for a scene of iconic London buildings. Finally, the yellow links to the generally happy experiences people have when visiting London.
[i] Mantell, Mike. 2023. “Color Psychology: How Color Affects Your Emotions and Why.” Science of People. October 23, 2023.
[ii] Sybaris. 2022. “Psychology of Color: How Color Impacts Feelings about Art.” Sybaris Collection. October 31, 2022. https://www.sybariscollection.com/psychology-color-color-impacts-feelings-art/.
[iii] McLachlan, Fiona, and Ewen McLachlan. 2014. “Colour and Contingency: Theory into Practice.” Architectural Theory Review 19 (2): 243–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/13264826.2014.995338.