Modern Architecture
Architecture
Color Makes Its Mark on Modern House Exteriors
Consider borrowing from the rainbow to give a modern home depth, distinction or even just a mood boost
Modern architecture and its architects historically have been seen as being afraid of color. One can trace the lack of color to the famous 1932 International Style exhibition and book from the Museum of Modern Art; buildings with whitewashed walls were preferred over others, and the black and white photographs meant that any color that did exist was not expressed.
Le Corbusier's oft-quoted saying that "architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light," was also interpreted to mean that white forms and planes were best suited to the sun's light and shadows. Richard Meier is one architect clearly influenced by Le Corbusier's purist phase (white buildings like Villa Savoye), and he even said in his acceptance speech for the 1984 Pritzker Prize that "the whiteness of white is never just white; it is almost always transformed by light and that which is changing."
But the white buildings are just one strand of modern architecture; even Villa Savoye has green exterior walls on the ground floor. Architects like Luis Barragán and the Eameses went so far as to saturate their buildings with color to affect the occupants' moods. This other strand of modern architecture — where white light is split into its rainbow of colors — has found influence all these decades later, as cladding materials (metals, fiber cement, resins) are giving architects a wide variety of colors to choose from beyond the natural hues of brick, stone and other materials. This ideabook takes a trip through the ROYGBIV rainbow, seeing how color can enliven the exteriors of modern houses. A similar ideabook on modern interiors will follow.
Le Corbusier's oft-quoted saying that "architecture is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light," was also interpreted to mean that white forms and planes were best suited to the sun's light and shadows. Richard Meier is one architect clearly influenced by Le Corbusier's purist phase (white buildings like Villa Savoye), and he even said in his acceptance speech for the 1984 Pritzker Prize that "the whiteness of white is never just white; it is almost always transformed by light and that which is changing."
But the white buildings are just one strand of modern architecture; even Villa Savoye has green exterior walls on the ground floor. Architects like Luis Barragán and the Eameses went so far as to saturate their buildings with color to affect the occupants' moods. This other strand of modern architecture — where white light is split into its rainbow of colors — has found influence all these decades later, as cladding materials (metals, fiber cement, resins) are giving architects a wide variety of colors to choose from beyond the natural hues of brick, stone and other materials. This ideabook takes a trip through the ROYGBIV rainbow, seeing how color can enliven the exteriors of modern houses. A similar ideabook on modern interiors will follow.
If one color stands out the most amongst trees and grass, it's red. This three-bedroom addition to a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Texas is covered in cement board panels in Ferrari red.
The previous house stands out in the landscape; this one does a similar thing on its block in St. Louis, through variations in red.
Color helps give a modern house its own identity among other modern houses, such as these green-built houses in Syracuse, New York.
The orange exterior of this overlook outside Atlanta is another example of standing out among the trees. With its balance of indoor (left) and outdoor (right) space, the orange overlook frames the green trees all around.
Los Angeles is definitely one locale that's more open to color than most. Stucco provides a blank canvas for applying color, as this sculptural orange house reveals.
Color does not need to cover every surface. This house in Houston is different shades of gray, upon which an orange band has been inserted above the garage; the small area makes a big impact.
Selective color, and its relationship to a background color, also has a large impact in this Seattle house. Window frames, spandrel panels and doors are painted orange against gray stucco.
Color can be used to create identity within one building, such as this two-family building in Los Angeles with one unit in light orange and one in dark orange. Note that the corrugated metal is oriented horizontally on the left and vertically on the right for further distinction.
The earthy tones of the stone and wood in this house in Wisconsin are heightened by the dark yellow walls on either side of the entrance.
This renovated house in Seattle has layers of stone, yellow plywood panels and beige siding. The plywood extends inside to give the house some warmth.
We started this ideabook with red and, not surprisingly, with green the effect is different. This addition seems to grow from the ground (not set itself apart from it), moving from dark green at the base to light green above.
This "abstracted farmhouse" outside Washington, D.C., gains some of its abstraction from the stucco exterior and its pastel green color. The house manages to stand out from the landscape without the tactic of contrast.
And what could be more appropriate for the color of a houseboat than blue?
Color can be used to heighten the sense of depth, as darker colors recede. As a case in point, the green front enhances the push of this house in San Diego toward the sidewalk, while the purple recedes.
But why settle for one or two colors? As Charles and Ray Eames, Luis Barragán, Gerrit Rietveld and others have shown, selective use of color can do a lot. This ocean retreat in the Pacific Northwest features splashes of yellow, blue and red against a predominantly gray exterior. The gray makes the other colors appear even stronger, turning the retreat into a three-dimensional abstract painting.