Re:Colour – A brand new colour collection

Kine Angelo, Associate Professor at NTNU, Department of Architecture and Technology has been working with colour for over 12 years. She has been part of the team for the development of the new colour collection:

"A common problem with products on the market today is that the colours available are often too colourful or too weak. Often I work on peeling these away, but in this project it has been good to work out a new colour map based on real needs. It's really nice to be able to publish a map where I can say "here are safe choices"."

Steni's Communications Manager Jan Terje Nielsen is also pleased with the new colour chart, which has received good words from the industry:

"We have had a fantastic collaboration with NTNU and Kine Angelo in the development of the collection. Our goal has been to produce colours that are applicable to the architects' needs and local colour guidance guides both in Scandinavia and internationally. The feedback we have received from architects who have looked at the collection has been overwhelmingly positive, so no doubt that Kine and NTNU know what they are doing."

We have had a conversation with Kine Angelo about colors in architecture and put together a video course in five episodes. Here you can see all the episodes collected:

 

 

Since its inception, colour has helped us orient and understand our surroundings. If it becomes too much, we are overstimulated, but we can also be under stimulated by too little variation in the colours we surround ourselves with.

"Nowadays, we tend to spend more time in cities, or more urban areas, so colours in architecture will sometimes replace what we get from nature. Then we must consider that the variation we get in nature will also be on the buildings we surround ourselves with," says colour expert Kine Angelo.

 

Especially in urban areas, too many buildings can be placed on the grey scale, which is not entirely fortunate. It is no coincidence that grey is often associated with negative emotions to describe nature, weather and mind, such as  "grey and sad", "monotonous",  "commune grey".  We simply need colors to get joy and energy.

Physiologically speaking, there are also laws, such as universal design, that state that we must have contrasts and light.  If the guidelines are not followed,  the ability to see and orient oneself well is downgraded.  In addition, the brain is "tricked" into thinking that we have little light, even if it is midday, and we feel inferior both physically and mentally.

 

 

Colour is closely linked to place identity through history and materials, which in turn creates a mood. For example, Rome can be recognised by its warm, reddish hues, and Paris by its delicate, monotonous palette. In Norway, we have traditionally had access to other materials and often stronger colours.

We used to get pigments from the soil, minerals and nature through what materials were available. Whereas today's technology allows us to produce infinite hues and hues.

"Now that we're not as limited, we might want to have some rules of the road. We should play on  the existing colours to preserve the identity from place to place.  Try to be a good neighbour when choosing a colour, says Kine Angelo.

Not sure how best to combine the different colours? Take a look at Kine Angelo's façade colouring guide.

 

The development of the colour map has taken place through a close and good collaboration between Kine Angelo and Steni, the ultimate combination of colour theory and technical know-how about façade panels. A fun and educational process, Kine Angelo thinks:

"There has been a lot of humour, but also a lot of openness in relation to the fact that we know different things, we are good in our own small field, then we come together and create something in common."