Architecture 597P - ST- Preservation: On Color

For this seminar, we investigate the use (or disuse) of color in architecture, from antiquity to the present. Proceeding chronologically, we begin with classical theories of color perception and meaning. To follow, we consider color's new connotations from the naturalism of the Renaissance and Newton's Optiks of the early-modern period. Through the Enlightenment, we witness color's diminution in the face of neo-classicism--only to partake in its complicated return during the "rediscovery" of ancient polychromy. Next, we examine the "whiteness" of Modernism, and, in conclusion, we contemplate color's place in contemporary architecture.

BS-ARCH,M.ARCH,MS-DES,ArchstSM