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The relevance that colour is acquiring in contem- rach by Sauerbruch & Hutton), designing with com-
porary architecture has much to do with new techno- puter often entails the assignment of color codes to
logies, that expand the way we perceive, conceive the various lines that define a project (eg. Netherland
and materialize a specific architecture. It remains an Institute for sound and vision of Neutelings) and so-
obsession by novelty, understood as an artistic value metimes produces very outright images both in a for-
itself, a legacy of the avant-gardes of the 20th cen- mal and a chromatic manner, that determine the final
tury, which failed in their ‘fight against technological appearance of the building (eg Hageneiland Housing
obsolescence’ (Hobswan 1999) and remained ‘in the by MVRDV).
rear’ in relation to mass media. Computers interfere
in the nature of colour (1), its composition (2) and its 3. Regarding to the materiality of color, new te-
materiality (3), among other factors. chnology allows new colored materials (eg La Defen-
se Offices by Ben Van Berkel, Pavilion of Spain by
1. Regarding to the nature of color, some archi- Zaera Polo, Peabody Housing by Martin Richman);
tects are identified with the abstract colors of the vir- and unstable color displays, which are possible by
tual world, which seem ‘much prettier on screen than artificial lighting systems (eg Alliance Arena by Her-
when printed on paper, because the screen gives zog & de Meuron), transparencies (eg Hotel Silken of
them brightness ‘ (Hadid 2001). ‘The color in the real Jean Nouvel), etc.
world seems increasingly unreal and dull’, while ‘the
color in the virtual space is luminous, and therefore In the future, and in relation to color, architects
irresistible’ (Koolhaas 2007). It is usual to find very should focus their interest in color relations that oc-
saturated colors, with hues that are away from the cur among buildings in an area rather than in isolated
natural shades, as it blurs the line between real and buildings, something that common designing soft-
virtual: “Each monitor is the replacement of a window: ware still does not provide properly. Perhaps in this
real life is inside, while cyberspace has become the way, it could be overcome the color autism of certain
major ... What it was the cosmetic it is now the cosmic provisions and the crisis of architectural object seen
‘(Koolhaas 2007). as an isolated artefact (Montaner 2008).
Fig. 3, Netherland Institute for Sound and Vision. Neutelings Riedijk Ar-
chitects, Rotterdam, Hilversum (Holanda). Vista nocturna del edificio.
Fig. 4, Peabody Housing, Martin Richman architects, Londres (UK),
2002.
Fig. 5, Laboratorios de investigación farmacológica en Biberach,
Sauerbruch & Hutton, Alemania, 2000-2002.
Fig. 6, Estadio Alianz Arena, Herzog y de Meuron, Munich (Alemania),
2005
Fig. 7, Offices “La Defense”. Ben van Berkel, Almere (Holanda), 2004.
Referencias:
Koolhaas, Rem, 2001, ‘El Futuro Del Color Parece Brillante’ en Kool-
haas, Rem, et al., Colours, Ed. Birkhäuser. Basel, ISBN: 3764365692.
McLaughlin, Niall, 2009, ‘The Illusive Façade’ en Porter, Tom & Mikelli-
des, Byron, Colour for architecture today, Ed. Taylor & Francis, London,
pp. 109, ISBN: 9780415438148.
Riedijk, Michiel, 2009, ‘Code, Space and Light’ en Porter, Tom & Mike-
llides, Byron, Colour for architecture today, Ed. Taylor & Francis, Lon-
don, pp. 109, ISBN: 9780415438148.