ABSTRACT
Paints, varnishes and stains are used tomake a buildingmore beautiful.
Traditional painting has, to a great extent, revealed a wish to imitate
other more noble building materials. The light yellow and grey fac¸ades
have imitated light stone fac¸ades ofmarble, lime or sandstone; dark red
fac¸ades have imitated brick. Colour has in this way had an outward-
looking, representational function and still is a powerful form of visual
communication in most cultures (Ojo et al., 2006). But it can also be
used for internal therapy. Theo Gimbel (2004) believes that colours can
start a chemical processwithin us, and that each cell is a sort of eye that
takes them in. Red helps relieve tiredness and bad moods, but should
be avoided by those with heart problems. Yellow stimulates the brain.
Green has a quieting effect, while violet strengthens creativity and
spirituality. Perception psychology has also shown that experience of
space can be manipulated with colours and textures. A correct colour-
ing can ‘expand’ a small room. This is achieved primarily by using matt
finishes in ‘receding’ colours such as green, blue and blue-grey mixed
with white. By contrast, ‘advancing’ strong colours such as red, yellow
and brownswill make the room seem smaller. The interplay of surfaces
can also have significant effects. A light ceiling in a roomwith darkwalls
will ‘raise’ the room height, and the opposite will make the room feel
lower (Neuffert, 1975). In this way, small buildings can be made to
appear and feel larger. This might be one way to make reduced space
use more acceptable; we know that efficient space use is one of the
keys to reduced energy use and environmental impacts of buildings
(see page 8).