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).