the meaning of colors
Although colors are highly important in determining our primary attitude to an object, their physical meaning remains controversial. In fact we are speaking of a sensation created in the brain as a result of the eye's sensitivity to light waves reflected off substance or absorbed by it. Referring to this, Aristotle claimed that colors are only a reflection of light, so there is no difference between a cloud and its shadow reflected upon the sea. Whether precise or not, this claim indicates that the human mind has always related to colors’ spiritual meanings, far beyond the sensual perception of the material world.
The connection between an object and the psycho-physical sensation it projects is most clearly expressed in the human mind’s categorical perception of the color spectrum, although constructed from a continuum mixture of the primary colors - red, yellow and blue. This mixture actually creates families of hues, subdivided into secondary categories such as the orange obtained from mixing red and yellow, the green from blue and yellow, the purple from red and blue, and brown and black created from a mixture of red, yellow and blue.
The inseparable connection between the sense perception of the color and the psycho-physical reaction it evokes causes us to attribute to colors spatial virtues. So, for instance, while a harmonious set of colors may cause suitability, meshing and pleasance, disharmony may be translated as spatial irritation.
As each design carries a defined purpose, and what is harmonious in one situation may be grasped as boring in another, it is possible to use color combinations based on contrast - namely, colors that are removed from one another on the color spectrum - in order to create a required psycho-physical effect.
Beyond the structured sensory reaction, each color carries connotations which are dependent on social, cultural or fashion aspects. Certain qualities are sometimes attributed to a color in one context only to run counter to the qualities attributed to it in another.
An example for this may be found in the International paradigm whose adherents made use of the gray hues resulting from the breaking down of the white masses to achieve light and shade effects, while the succeeding Brutalist architecture gave up even the white and made do with the grays of the bare concrete.
Red is usually associated with blood and fire, thereby symbolizing danger, war and lust. As such it radiates energy, power, daring and decision. Since blood and fire are perceived differently in various cultures, the Western world uses red as a warning sign (for examples in traffic lights or threatening payment slips), while in the Far East red is used to express positive feelings such as love and passion.
Yellow is the color of the sun, therefore symbolizing sunrise, renewal and joy of creation. The yellow hue of ripened wheat is connected with health, and its proximity to gold relates it to honor, indulgence and loyalty. On the other hand, the golden desert sands connect the yellow to heat, ventilation, withering, and when pale - to jealousy and illness.
Orange, obtained from the mixture of red and yellow, represents the energies inherent in the yellow of the sun and the fire, with the daring, passion, attraction and stimulation attributed to red. As it is a good background for offsetting black, orange is used to draw attention, mark games and wrap food products.
Blue is the most magical of the colors. Symbolizing the skies and sea, it represents depth, expansion and wisdom - the highest form of which is related to the godly. Hence, it is often used in religious context, and accordingly as symbolizing the masculine patriarch - in turn traditionally connected to stability, intellect and skill. In contrast to the warm colors (red, yellow, orange) which convey intimacy, blue belongs to the spectrum of cool colors, connoting remoteness.
Purple, made of blue and red, connects the eternal stability of the blue with the tempestuous energies of the red. Hence it represents power, nobility, wealth, lavishness and luxury. In the Christian world purple symbolizes the pope, and correspondingly, in China - the emperor. Being a lofty color, purple evokes feelings of yearning, suiting women’s wear, fantasy images and products for the young.
White is void of any pigment, thereby radiating cleanliness, hygiene and sterility, often associated with hospitals, nursing and medicine. Since white does not absorb light rays, the energies hitting it are reflected back to the surroundings, imbuing it with connotations of giving, kindliness and good-will. Associated with milk, white represents products that are considered a basic source of energy. Due to its physiological characteristics, white is used to prevent transfer of heat on roofs, while in interior design it serves as a fine background for other colors.
Black, in contrast, absorbs the surrounding energies, and is perceived as a common expression of extreme situations, such as death, bereavement, fear, and anxieties in face of the unknown. Although used to express negative energies (black humor, black list, etc.), black also represents power and authority, hence used for formal statements of elegance, prestige and importance.
Green, with its infinite hues, represents nature, and will therefore get extended reference. Its color stems from the chlorophyll molecule constituting the basic component of photosynthesis - the point of departure for the entire food chain in nature. Since photosynthesis changes inorganic matter into organic through the energy of light, it may be said that green appropriately represents the whole process of creation.
Although green is one of the fundamental colors of the electronic color spectrum, its wave length is located between that of the blue and the yellow so that it is obtained by a mixture of the two. Quite naturally, this physical fact is also symbolically expressed in the desertification process - the crux of the ecological issue. Thus, as the blue - symbolizing water - decreases, the yellow areas - symbolizing the desert - take over the green areas.
As initially this phenomenon was perceived with regard to the rain forests - direct and indirect habitats for most of life on earth - quite naturally green was the color to paint its ecological preservation campaign.
After some 40 years of failing to reach its goals, it goes without saying that this threatened reality actually originated in the multi-colored progress of modern life, which has raised life-expectancy, increasing the adult population, and by so doing has significantly increased luxury product consumption. A less spoken issue is that the root of the problem lies in the conflict of interests between the party that enjoys this consumption and the one suffering its consequences.
Since the color that symbolizes it has no relation to the problem it represents, the green campaign also has an ironic aspect. One of the current trends of the environmental campaign is the widely denoted “green” architecture. However, the greener it gets, the less “green” it is, and the best examples are buildings laden with flower pots bearing no relation to the rehabilitation of the rain forests. In fact, the opposite is true.
Beyond the fact that these buildings save no energy - as the utilities and running maintenance are expensive and wasteful, they demonstrate cynical abuse of plants hanging on high floors of towers, far from their natural habitat on the ground. And, if mere external covering were the object, one would make better use of the colorful spring blossoms, thereby avoiding the miserable look of a misplaced plant nursery.
It’s high time that the green stars of architecture, as well, realized that “green” architecture is simply climate- and environment-aware architecture, whose dominant colors are of natural light, shading, ventilation, insulation and sealing. Natural light is transparent, the ventilation is clear, insulation is white like Styrofoam or yellow like rock wool, sealing materials are undefined, and the shading is every possible hue, as long as it’s efficient and adjustable all year round.
Though a great deal of the meaning of colors is brain dependent, the signifier can not replace the signified. That is - mere use of green cannot replace climate- and environment- aware architecture. The thought of green as everything but real was brilliantly expressed by Federico Garcia Lorca, in his Romance Sonambulo. Let’s enjoy its first stanza:
Green, how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.
The ship out on the sea
and the horse on the mountain.
With the shade around her waist
she dreams on her balcony,
green flesh, her hair green,
with eyes of cold silver.
Green, how I want you green.
Under the gypsy moon,
all things are watching her
and she cannot see them.
Although colors are highly important in determining our primary attitude to an object, their physical meaning remains controversial. In fact we are speaking of a sensation created in the brain as a result of the eye's sensitivity to light waves reflected off substance or absorbed by it. Referring to this, Aristotle claimed that colors are only a reflection of light, so there is no difference between a cloud and its shadow reflected upon the sea. Whether precise or not, this claim indicates that the human mind has always related to colors’ spiritual meanings, far beyond the sensual perception of the material world.
The connection between an object and the psycho-physical sensation it projects is most clearly expressed in the human mind’s categorical perception of the color spectrum, although constructed from a continuum mixture of the primary colors - red, yellow and blue. This mixture actually creates families of hues, subdivided into secondary categories such as the orange obtained from mixing red and yellow, the green from blue and yellow, the purple from red and blue, and brown and black created from a mixture of red, yellow and blue.
The inseparable connection between the sense perception of the color and the psycho-physical reaction it evokes causes us to attribute to colors spatial virtues. So, for instance, while a harmonious set of colors may cause suitability, meshing and pleasance, disharmony may be translated as spatial irritation.
As each design carries a defined purpose, and what is harmonious in one situation may be grasped as boring in another, it is possible to use color combinations based on contrast - namely, colors that are removed from one another on the color spectrum - in order to create a required psycho-physical effect.
Beyond the structured sensory reaction, each color carries connotations which are dependent on social, cultural or fashion aspects. Certain qualities are sometimes attributed to a color in one context only to run counter to the qualities attributed to it in another.
An example for this may be found in the International paradigm whose adherents made use of the gray hues resulting from the breaking down of the white masses to achieve light and shade effects, while the succeeding Brutalist architecture gave up even the white and made do with the grays of the bare concrete.
Red is usually associated with blood and fire, thereby symbolizing danger, war and lust. As such it radiates energy, power, daring and decision. Since blood and fire are perceived differently in various cultures, the Western world uses red as a warning sign (for examples in traffic lights or threatening payment slips), while in the Far East red is used to express positive feelings such as love and passion.
Yellow is the color of the sun, therefore symbolizing sunrise, renewal and joy of creation. The yellow hue of ripened wheat is connected with health, and its proximity to gold relates it to honor, indulgence and loyalty. On the other hand, the golden desert sands connect the yellow to heat, ventilation, withering, and when pale - to jealousy and illness.
Orange, obtained from the mixture of red and yellow, represents the energies inherent in the yellow of the sun and the fire, with the daring, passion, attraction and stimulation attributed to red. As it is a good background for offsetting black, orange is used to draw attention, mark games and wrap food products.
Blue is the most magical of the colors. Symbolizing the skies and sea, it represents depth, expansion and wisdom - the highest form of which is related to the godly. Hence, it is often used in religious context, and accordingly as symbolizing the masculine patriarch - in turn traditionally connected to stability, intellect and skill. In contrast to the warm colors (red, yellow, orange) which convey intimacy, blue belongs to the spectrum of cool colors, connoting remoteness.
Purple, made of blue and red, connects the eternal stability of the blue with the tempestuous energies of the red. Hence it represents power, nobility, wealth, lavishness and luxury. In the Christian world purple symbolizes the pope, and correspondingly, in China - the emperor. Being a lofty color, purple evokes feelings of yearning, suiting women’s wear, fantasy images and products for the young.
White is void of any pigment, thereby radiating cleanliness, hygiene and sterility, often associated with hospitals, nursing and medicine. Since white does not absorb light rays, the energies hitting it are reflected back to the surroundings, imbuing it with connotations of giving, kindliness and good-will. Associated with milk, white represents products that are considered a basic source of energy. Due to its physiological characteristics, white is used to prevent transfer of heat on roofs, while in interior design it serves as a fine background for other colors.
Black, in contrast, absorbs the surrounding energies, and is perceived as a common expression of extreme situations, such as death, bereavement, fear, and anxieties in face of the unknown. Although used to express negative energies (black humor, black list, etc.), black also represents power and authority, hence used for formal statements of elegance, prestige and importance.
Green, with its infinite hues, represents nature, and will therefore get extended reference. Its color stems from the chlorophyll molecule constituting the basic component of photosynthesis - the point of departure for the entire food chain in nature. Since photosynthesis changes inorganic matter into organic through the energy of light, it may be said that green appropriately represents the whole process of creation.
Although green is one of the fundamental colors of the electronic color spectrum, its wave length is located between that of the blue and the yellow so that it is obtained by a mixture of the two. Quite naturally, this physical fact is also symbolically expressed in the desertification process - the crux of the ecological issue. Thus, as the blue - symbolizing water - decreases, the yellow areas - symbolizing the desert - take over the green areas.
As initially this phenomenon was perceived with regard to the rain forests - direct and indirect habitats for most of life on earth - quite naturally green was the color to paint its ecological preservation campaign.
After some 40 years of failing to reach its goals, it goes without saying that this threatened reality actually originated in the multi-colored progress of modern life, which has raised life-expectancy, increasing the adult population, and by so doing has significantly increased luxury product consumption. A less spoken issue is that the root of the problem lies in the conflict of interests between the party that enjoys this consumption and the one suffering its consequences.
Since the color that symbolizes it has no relation to the problem it represents, the green campaign also has an ironic aspect. One of the current trends of the environmental campaign is the widely denoted “green” architecture. However, the greener it gets, the less “green” it is, and the best examples are buildings laden with flower pots bearing no relation to the rehabilitation of the rain forests. In fact, the opposite is true.
Beyond the fact that these buildings save no energy - as the utilities and running maintenance are expensive and wasteful, they demonstrate cynical abuse of plants hanging on high floors of towers, far from their natural habitat on the ground. And, if mere external covering were the object, one would make better use of the colorful spring blossoms, thereby avoiding the miserable look of a misplaced plant nursery.
It’s high time that the green stars of architecture, as well, realized that “green” architecture is simply climate- and environment-aware architecture, whose dominant colors are of natural light, shading, ventilation, insulation and sealing. Natural light is transparent, the ventilation is clear, insulation is white like Styrofoam or yellow like rock wool, sealing materials are undefined, and the shading is every possible hue, as long as it’s efficient and adjustable all year round.
Though a great deal of the meaning of colors is brain dependent, the signifier can not replace the signified. That is - mere use of green cannot replace climate- and environment- aware architecture. The thought of green as everything but real was brilliantly expressed by Federico Garcia Lorca, in his Romance Sonambulo. Let’s enjoy its first stanza:
Green, how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.
The ship out on the sea
and the horse on the mountain.
With the shade around her waist
she dreams on her balcony,
green flesh, her hair green,
with eyes of cold silver.
Green, how I want you green.
Under the gypsy moon,
all things are watching her
and she cannot see them.
חזרה לגליון 78 back to issue 78
