Colors in Architecture - A Guide to Students

When we like the colors in a room, we feel good in it. There is a healing, calming aspect.

- Barbara Kaplan, Interior Designer

Color scheme depends on certain concepts and these concept may depends upon the nature of space. Formal space have different color schemes while informal space may have different. Also, to impart fresh effect concept of color will be different than the ancient touch. Apart from the concept, the orientation of the room, existing finishes, furniture and the artifacts to be placed in room are also considered. Generally, for planning a color scheme, following 3 main components of shell should be considered:

- Walls, floors, ceiling

- Proportions of the room

- Balance of solids and voids

It has been noticed that people are more comfortable in room with light ceiling, medium walls and dark floors. Probably, this scheme corresponds to the color of sky, foliage and earth respectively.

If a room is very large, and if required, the effect can be subdued by using dark colors and complementary color schemes. Similarly, the use of light colors and monochromatic and analogous color schemes can make a small room appear large.

The nature of projects also influence the choice of colors. For residential areas, harmonious color schemes (monochromatic or analogous) are preferred and preferably cool colors are used on southern sides and little bit of warm colors are used on northern side (Indian context).

Monochromatic or analogous color schemes that are harmonious are preferred for residential areas. In India, generally cool colors are used on southern sides and slightly warm colors are used on northern side. Bright colors like red and yellow with complimentary color schemes are used for Nursery Schools as these colors depicts childhood. To provide stimulating and exciting effects, bright and warm colors are used for hospitality sector. Healthcare centers are painted with soothing colors like off-whites and browns.

BIM Technology Advantages

BIM Technology on the Revit Platform also known as VDC (Virtual Design and Construction) enables creating buildings as a single data set, leveraging that information to bring benefits to all parties. BIM offers the ability to update design faster, collaborate across disciplines, accurately manage work flows and significantly increases productivity. This enhances the value of design as a whole, with benefits to all from reduction in turnaround, errors and coordination. Here are 10 BIM Technology advantages:

1. Better outcomes through collaboration

2. Enhanced performance

3. Optimized solutions

4. Greater predictability

5. Faster project delivery

6. Reduced safety risk

7. Fits first time

8. Reduced waste

9. Whole life asset management

10. Continual improvement

Zero-energy buildings - A reality now!

Experts believe that all commercial buildings, by the year 2050, will be “net zero”. Net Zero buildings are capable of producing as much energy as they use over the period of a year. Many green buildings experts, however, says that net zero homes are not merely a thing of the future and any building can be transformed into a net zero home with some investment and advanced energy technology.

If you are planning to own or build home of your own, then there is no reason not to select net zero house plans. People in net zero homes enjoy drastically reduced energy bills and are less dependent on the local grid in the case of an emergency.

Reducing energy consumption and generating power on site are two basic steps required in building net zero homes. Creating a tight building envelope and installing energy-efficient lighting, heating and appliances helps in reducing energy consumption. Also, HVAC systems allow to live comfortably on a third of the energy required for an average code-built home.

A combination of photo-voltaic  solar thermal, geothermal and wind generates on-site power for net zero buildings. Net zero status is earned when as much power has been pushed back to the grid as was used on site.

What are the benefits of green building?

In the last post, we discussed the economics of green buildings. Here, we will highlight some of the social and environmental benefits of green buildings. But let us also outline some of the Economic Benefits once more:

- Increased Property Values
- Higher Occupancy Rates
- Increased Rental Values
- Energy and Water Savings
- Decreased Infrastructure Strain
- Improved employee attendance and productivity

Social Benefits
- Healthier lifestyles and recreation
- Improved Health
- Improved Schools

Environmental Benefits
- Rain water Management
- Emissions Reduction
- Water Conservation
- Waste Reduction

The Economics of Green Buildings

Who pays for Green? This may be one of the questions among all concerned before deciding to go for 'green'! The economics of green buildings favors green upgrades since they can add value to a building. 

According to RREEF Research, green building is fundamentally altering real estate market dynamics – the nature of the product demanded by tenants, constructed by developers, required by governments and favored by capital providers. Many tenants are now willing to pay a premium for space in green buildings because of the lower operating costs, higher worker productivity and other benefits that comes with the superior environmental performance of green buildings.

One of the significant benefit of 'Green Buildings' is the energy saving. But, it may be assumed that this benefit is ultimately enjoyed by the owner of the building and not by the original designer and construction contractor. The experts believe that this is a perceived disconnect between cost and benefit and recent findings say differently:

- Green buildings sell at a higher price. McGraw Hill measured the price premium for the sale of Energy Star ®-labeled buildings to be 12%.3 Another study estimated the premium on LEED-certified buildings at 31%.

- Green buildings command higher rent premiums. By comparing rental agreements involving Energy Star buildings with non-Energy Star leases, researchers at Maastricht University found that efficient buildings command 3.5% higher rents.

- Green buildings are more attractive to tenants. The same study found a 6% higher occupancy rate for Energy Star certified buildings.

Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together ...

Every now and then you need something to distract you from many of your mundane affairs or for that matter daily routines. Quotes are something which can provide a little break and help you de-stress, motivate and even force you to laugh a loud! Also, these concise sentences of wisdom can spark an 'idea' which can change your life forever! Here are few quotes design related quotes that just might 'awaken' the missing 'spark' in you. Hope you'll enjoy reading them:

“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness.”  - Frank Gehry

“Architecture begins where engineering ends.” – Walter Gropius

“To create architecture is to put in order. Put what in order? Function and objects.”  - Le Corbusier

“There will never be great architects or great architecture without great patrons.”  - Edwin Lutyens

“I hate vacations. If you can build buildings, why sit on the beach?”  - Philip Johnson

“The events of human life, whether public or private, are so intimately linked to architecture that most observers can reconstruct nations or individuals in all the truth of their habits from the remains of their monuments or from their domestic relics.”  - Honore de Balzac 

“Architecture is inhabited sculpture”  - Constantin Brancusi 

“We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls.”  - Bill Bryson 

“It is in dialogue with pain that many beautiful things acquire their value. Acquaintance with grief turns out to be one of the more unusual prerequisites of architectural appreciation. We might, quite aside from all other requirements, need to be a little sad before buildings can properly touch us.”  ― Alain de Botton

“We need houses as we need clothes, architecture stimulates fashion. It’s like hunger and thirst — you need them both.”  ― Karl Lagerfeld

Architect's Increased Responsibilities in the Realm of Green Buildings

When specific measures are incorporated in a building to provide healthier environments for its users and mitigate its negative impact on the environment, then the building is called as “green”. The popularity or for that matter the practice of green building has caused significant changes in the real estate and construction industry, presenting architects to new responsibilities and opportunities! 

A sustainable architecture is more practical 'design' of the building and therefore it is the thoughtful integration of architecture with electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering. Similarly, a building cannot be sustainable unless its interior design is not in tandem with it. Use of solar and wind energy, positioning of windows and day lighting are very important factors in creating climate sensitive design. The role of architects to implement the modern concepts in Sustainable Design has, thus, become very important in the realm of Green Buildings!

Green building is the future of all building

Green building industry has grown at a very impressive rate and experts predict that it will continue to grow by as much as 400% in coming years. The motivation to build green also comes from the business opportunity it represents. Builders all over the world surveyed recently reported being involved in green construction on some level. Green building provides an assortment of economic advantages and therefore is the future of all building.

The impact of 'green' has united disciplines that have worked independently from one another, such as architects, engineers, builders, material suppliers, community planners, mortgage lenders and contractor trades. Many architecture and engineering firms have experienced that sustainable design projects were, on average 25% more profitable than conventional project. Some of the benefits that builders of green building enjoy are: 

- Competitive advantage because of higher quality

- Less construction waste

- Lower material and labor costs during construction

- Reduced purchase cost of mechanical equipment

- Reduced callbacks and warranty claims

Does going green change the face of design or only its content?

Aesthetic attraction isn’t a superficial concern - it’s an environmental imperative. We spoke of Lance Hosey's book The Shape of Green in the last post. We decided to share more from this book which we think is true for our profession. Let us understand why beauty is inherent to sustainability, for how things look and feel is as important as how they’re made. 

In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan shows that domesticated plants and animals have thrived because they have an important survival advantage over their competitors in the wild: we like them. Pollan writes: “Human desires form a part of natural history in the same way the hummingbird’s love of red does, or the ant’s taste for the aphid’s honeydew. I think of them as the human equivalent of nectar.” The fate of many things depends on whether they please people. Wolves might seem heartier than dogs, but there are 50 million dogs in the world and only ten thousand wolves. Which has adapted better? This view of nature may give you pause - should other species exist just to please us? But as a principle for design, it is essential. If you want something to last, make it as lovable as a Labrador.

Studies show, we form positive associations with things we consider beautiful, we are more likely to become emotionally attached, giving them pet names, for instance. We personalize things we care about. Experiments in interaction design also reveal that people generally consider attractive products more functional than they do unsightly ones and therefore are more apt to use them. We prefer using things that look better, even if they aren’t inherently easier to use. Consider the ramifications - if an object is more likely to be used, it’s more likely to continue being used. Who throws out a thing they find functional, beautiful, and valuable all at once? A more attractive design discourages us from abandoning it: if we want it, we won’t waste it.

The Shape of Green is a beautiful book that designers and also design lovers will turn to time and again. Author Lance Hosey explores the critically important but too rarely discussed dimensions of this goal elegance, joy, and beauty. The book has ability to inspire hope in the most pessimistic readers.

If it’s not beautiful, it’s not sustainable

Architect and author Lance Hosey, in his book The Shape of Green, argues that beauty is inherent to sustainability, for how things look and feel is as important as how they’re made. He went further and wrote 'If it’s not beautiful, it’s not sustainable'!

Long-term value is impossible without sensory appeal, because if design doesn't inspire, it’s destined to be discarded. “In the end,” writes Senegalese poet Baba Dioum, “we conserve only what we love.” We don’t love something because it’s nontoxic and biodegradable - we love it because it moves the head and the heart. If people don’t want something, it will not last, no matter how thrifty it is. And when our designs end up as litter or landfill, how prudent have we been? “The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us,” wrote Rachel Carson half a century ago, “the less taste we shall have for destruction.” When we treasure something, we’re less prone to kill it, so desire fuels preservation. Love it or lose it. In this sense, the old mantra could be replaced by a new one: If it’s not beautiful, it’s not sustainable. Aesthetic attraction is not a superficial concern - it’s an environmental imperative. Beauty could save the planet.

© Shape of Green