2011#04 PI Magazine

Monthly Column Studio Lawrence

Despite a short upheaval in the Seventies, colour has never been prominent within modern interiors. Purple, green and orange swiftly disappeared from the 70s palette, followed shortly by brown, leaving white to dominate.
Colour was not part of the curriculum during our studies at the Faculty of Architecture in Delft Technical University from 1990-1996. At that time an interior was nothing more than the bare sum of building-materials, any further refinement considered mere decoration.
Dutch Modernism is white, the Van Nelle Factory its blinding example. The sparse industrial interior of the Factory gathered a loyal following and now pervades the landscape of our interiors. Ironically, this pinnacle of Dutch minimalism now stands opposite a vivid orange prison, designed by a colour-blind architect.
Last January, we were approached by an international consultancy firm who had just thrown open the doors to their brand new office building. The triangular building, designed by a prominent Dutch architectural office, stands three stories high and holds a large atrium at its centre. All activity within the building culminates in this central space: large grey tiles on the floor, white steel stairs and bridges, white window-panes and a glass roof with white steel framework.
White, grey, white, white. Those having to work within this space, alongside a restaurant, Œcoffee corner¹, library and meeting rooms, clearly weren¹t considered by the architect. Tiles, steel and glass created an acoustic nightmare within the space which furniture alone could not remedy.
Studio Lawrence was invited to provide a cure. Our proposal was a wool wall hanging, measuring nearly 300 m2, designed to improve acoustics. Along with the monochrome of white, grey and black, the composition incorporated colour; accents of red and orange served to warm up the icy appearance of the atrium along with the acoustics.
After numerous meetings white smoke was spotted leaving the chimney of the consultancy firm. Our proposal was accepted with one resounding change to the composition. No colour. The character of the atrium should remain un-altered, white, grey, white, white, white. Our composition now hangs in unadulterated monochrome; white, grey and black. The only time the atrium turned Orange for a short while was during the opening of the building by Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands.
It seems with the use of colour it's either all or nothing. The Rieveld-Schroder house appears constructed from colour, MVRDV has built an all-orange house and an all-blue roof-extension.  It is only within the foil of greys, however, that this use of colour can glare out: Colour as a gimmick. Their objective is pure impact, not integration. Colour should not be a shock to the system but  interwoven into our everyday. Isn't it about time for the tide to change and break the monotony of monochrome?
 
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