Home Noir: Black Exteriors Emerge From the Shadows
People are darkening their doorsteps more and more around the U.S. — but is the trend a bright idea?
Mary Jo Bowling
January 24, 2014
Houzz Contributor; writer, reader, serial remodeler.
I’ve been noticing that people have a lot of heart for darkness lately. The increasing numbers of black-colored buildings were reported on Houzz last year, and since then I’ve seen more noir exteriors on design blogs, in magazines and on walking trips around San Francisco neighborhoods. The movement was reaffirmed by a thoughtful article in the San Francisco Chronicle by John King, the newspaper’s urban design critic. In his piece, Paint It Black, King notes that the trend is making a change in San Francisco, a city that has been marked mostly by a light, bright color palette.
As King writes: “In the world of San Francisco architecture, black is the new black. The trend is becoming as ubiquitous as food trucks. It’s a surefire way to turn heads. But a little novelty goes a long way.”
In an interview with me, King says he suspects the trend is not limited to The City by the Bay. “I would suspect that it happens in any city where people want to live in older neighborhoods, but they also want to be modern and edgy,” he says. He describes the paint-it-black strategy as adding instant cool. “You make a building black, and it instantly becomes a place for people wearing black. It’s a way of saying, ‘Aren’t we a hip place? Come in and buy a $12 cocktail.’”
King notes that he has seen and heard of new or newly painted all-black buildings in places such as New York City and Austin, Texas. “I started noticing them three years ago,” he says. “But in the last two years, the numbers have increased.”
King notes that he has seen and heard of new or newly painted all-black buildings in places such as New York City and Austin, Texas. “I started noticing them three years ago,” he says. “But in the last two years, the numbers have increased.”
Like King, I remember the first time I noticed an all-black house, and it was a head-turning experience. “When they are well done, they are the exception,” he says. “But when it goes from being one or two black buildings in a neighborhood to six or eight buildings within blocks of each other, it becomes something else.”
As he puts it in the article, “As more owners and architects use dark cloaks to look sharp, there’s a very real danger that the eye-catching exception could spread across some districts like an oil spill.”
King says in a city like San Francisco, where Mediterranean colors and exuberantly hued Victorians rule the landscape, the black trend will change the fabric of the place. “I’m a style agnostic,” he says. “I really like black. I just wonder at what point it’s too much.”
“One dark building,” he writes, “can be a bold nudge to quiet neighbors, but when too many are too big, or in too-close proximity to one another — thud.”
Of course, the design pendulum swings inexorably back and forth, and today’s edgy color is tomorrow’s avocado green or harvest gold (although those colors may be poised for a comeback). It’s a fact reaffirmed in by Ben Tranel, a senior associate architect at Gensler, an international design firm in San Francisco. He is quoted in King’s article as saying, “Black or dark gray is in vogue right now. Architecture has fashions like anything else.”
“When it comes to a coat of paint, that’s easy to change, if you want,” says King. But he notes that metal or stone skyscrapers or residential homes with bold metal additions will be more permanent landscape markers.
King comes down on the side of balance. “As with so much else in a 21st-century city, urban architecture gains strength from diversity,” he writes. “All black would be oppressive. All peach or beige — the default in decades past — turns a vital city soft.”
Let us know: Is black staking a claim in your city?
More: 11 Reasons to Paint Your Ceiling Black
Let us know: Is black staking a claim in your city?
More: 11 Reasons to Paint Your Ceiling Black
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The first word that comes to mind when I see black architecture is "slick". Really love this look. Giulietti Schouten Architects image is exactly what I envision when I think of a black exterior look. So beautiful!
Black is beautiful. This is a dream of mine since I don't own my own home. But, recently I painted an accent wall in my family's home black to much protestations . I gave in to them and changed the colour to khaki. I can't wait to have my own home so I can paint the town black!
Well, this old article has cropped up! I hope the fad has changed...
It's very nice , but environmentally irresponsible in so many ways. And living in a place that gets extremely hot in summer, and has very mild winters - I have no desire to add to my cooling costs by attracting heat to the house. Different if you live in an 'all year' cool place, perhaps.
One white roof, offsets several cars per year, I heard somewhere, as far as global warming goes, so we did that. And whilst a business might like the look, I find too much black depressing. I wear all black... nearly all the time, but don't want to live in it. It feels like it's closing in on you, after a while.
I don't want a depressed garden area either - it almost demands one of the sad and weary looking modern plantings of rows of strappy plants, or sad little hedges, per the photographs.
I know a lot of people say they like that look - but I think that's more a maintenance issue.
IF I did have one of these black buildings, I'd rather have a Zen rock garden with almost no maintenance than one of those modern plantings that look like a third rate clinic's 'carpark' garden. And I can't imagine having to clean the exterior every five minutes - black shows dust, pollution and general grime so very quickly.