New book 'Chromatic Architecture' celebrates colour as a 'fundamental aspect of human pleasure'

Adam Nathaniel Furman and journalist Kate Mazade, argue for more colour in our built environment

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colourful building seen in the pages of book Chromatic Architecture
De Bijenkorf by Gio Ponti
(Image credit: Mark Kuipers)

A rainbow of hues appears throughout Chromatic Architecture, a new book by artist-designer Adam Nathaniel Furman and journalist Kate Mazade that explores how colour can be wielded in the built environment to dazzling effect. The 200-page title begins by giving a concise introduction to colour and how it is 'one of the most elemental ways we apprehend the world around us,' profoundly impacting, through millennia, how we perceive structures visually and respond to them emotionally.

colourful building seen in the pages of book Chromatic Architecture

Brandhorst Museum

(Image credit: Haydar Koyupinar, Museum Brandhorst, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich)

Browse 'Chromatic Architecture' - the colourful new book

Afterwards follow 34 diverse projects that Furman and Mazade think display a mastery of palette, from designer Dan Friedman’s experimental New York apartment with its pops of neon green to the 17th-century Shah Mosque in Iran that’s ornately adorned with over 1.5 million ceramic tiles in shades ranging from Persian blue to biscuit brown.

'The intention was to show how colour has been and can be used in wildly different socio-cultural, economic, religious, historical and urban contexts. It is infinitely flexible,' says Furman, whose own work is vividly polychromatic (an ombré-effect colonnade he created in Croydon, South London, is included in the book). 'The use of colour is something that is very dear to me, and that I feel rather viscerally to be a fundamental aspect of human pleasure.'

colourful building seen in the pages of book Chromatic Architecture

Casa Vicens

(Image credit: David Cardelus, 2019 reproduced by permission of CASA VICENS GAUDI)

Projects in Chromatic Architecture are accompanied by rich imagery and expressive text that details how each building was conceived. Some of them are undeniably bold in appearance, such as Danish designer Verner Panton’s Varna restaurant in Aarhus – completed in 1971, the dining space embodies the period’s psychedelic groove, boasting swirling violet carpets and ceilings with concentric rings of crimson orbs.

colourful building seen in the pages of book Chromatic Architecture

Sri Ranganatha Swamy

(Image credit: Photo Rupesh Maurya. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license)

However, there are also a number of 'gently persuasive' projects where colour is employed in a quieter but equally potent way; ideal for readers who may be hesitant about bringing vibrancy into their own design endeavours. Among them is a multi-purpose building in Thailand by Suphasidh Architects, its facade inlaid with striations of brown, burnt-orange, and dusty black earth sourced from different areas of the country. There’s also Studio Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann’s Fjordenhus office in Vejle, Denmark, covered in variegated bricks that subtly shift in tone as light conditions change throughout the day.

colourful building seen in the pages of book Chromatic Architecture

Croydon Colonnade

(Image credit: Gareth Gardner)

Altogether, the title offers not just a lesson in colour, but also in creative courage. 'What struck me about this book is how unabashedly the designers of every one of these case studies used colour,' concludes Mazade. 'They weren’t interested in architecture that shied away from view. The buildings say "this is who I am, and how I want to be remembered".'

colourful building seen in the pages of book Chromatic Architecture

Chonburi multi purpose building by Suphasidh Architects

(Image credit: Jessica Tang)

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Natasha Levy

Natasha Levy is a writer based in London. After spending the first four years of her career as an interiors reporter at the leading architecture and design magazine Dezeen, she transitioned to freelance in 2021 and has since contributed to prestigious publications such as Wallpaper*, Elle Decoration UK, and Crafts, where she also spent two years as an associate editor.