In Colour

^Thechildren'sroomattheVillaMüller©MartinPolak2b

byCharlesHollandAs Mark Wigley has pointed out, the ‘whiteness’ of modern architecture wasbased, at least in part, on a mis‐reading of history1. The photographs of theParthenonbleachedwhitebytheMediterraneansun,thatappearinLeCorbusier’sTowardsANewArchitecture,givenocluethatthebuildinghadoncebeencoveredbyrichpolychromyandcolourfuldecoration.

Le Corbusier used these photographs to draw attention to certain readings ofarchitecture whilst suppressing others. Accentuated be deep shadows andstrippedofsurfacecolourandsymbolicdecoration,thephotographshelpedhimconstruct a narrative of the architecture of the Acropolis as exemplifying “themagnificentplayofmassesbroughttogetherinlight”.

Somuchweknow.But thismisreadinghasbeencompoundedbyanother.Theblackandwhitephotographsofearlymodernistmasterpiecesagaineditedouttheoftenliberaluseofcolour.Modernism’sprivilegingofspaceandform,asopposed

1WhiteWalls,DesignerDresses:TheFashioningofModernArchitecture,byMarkWigley,publishedbyMITPress,2001.

tosurfaceanddecoration,wasachievedat leastpartiallybythesuppressionofotheraspectsofitscharacter.

Max Risselada’s book Raumplan versus Plan Libre2 includes photographs ofspecially constructedmodelsof interiorsbybothLeCorbusierandAdolfLoos.These models attempt to depict the original materials and colour schemesemployedbythearchitects,with,inLoos’case,somemildlyshockingresults.Bothused colour liberally, but Loos’ interiors are saturated in it: buttercup yellowwindow frames, marine blue woodwork, deep red dado‐rails and pea‐greencarpets.

Much of Loos’ early work was transitory: bar and shop interiors along withapartmentsforthewealthyViennesebourgeoisie.Manyoftheseinteriorsarenowlost,eitherdemolishedorsignificantlyremodelled,sothescalereconstructionsinRaunplanversusPlanLibreareallwehavetorecordthemindetail.Withoutthemwemay have continued to believe that Looswas an austere, proto‐modernistintentonbanishingallfripperyanddecorationfromhisarchitecture.

Inhisessay,ThePrincipleofCladding3,Looshasthistosayabouttheuseofcolour:“Woodmaybepaintedanycolourexceptone–thecolourofwood.Theprincipleof cladding forbids the cladding material to imitate the colouration of theunderlying material”. He goes on to put forward a brief history of colour inarchitecture: “TheMiddleAgespaintedwoodbright red for themostpart, theRenaissance blue; the Baroque and Rococo painted interiors white, exteriorsgreen”.

LikemanyofLoos’statements, thesestricturesseemsimultaneouslyridiculousandperfectlygoodsense.AsfarasIamawarethough,hedoesn’tmentioncolouragain.Andneitherdoesanyoneelse.Loos’supposedremovalofdecorationalongwithhisinventionoftheRaumplanareseenashislastinglegacies.Histendencytoemploytheoccasionalclassicalfriezeandhisexactingfocusoncraftsmanshipareseenashangoversfromanearlierera,asetofconcernsthatmodernismwouldsoonshedentirely.

I have yoked Le Corbusier and Loos together but their use of colour is verydifferent and,what’smore these differences exemplify the differences in theirarchitecture.LeCorbusierusescolourinapainterlyway.Thatis,inthesamewaythatheusesitinhispaintings.Itdefinesobjectsandplanesanddrawsattentiontothedifferencesbetweenthem:agreycolumninfrontofaredwallforinstance.It seems an elementally modernist sensibility, a desire for clarity ofcommunicationandthedefinitionofelements:wallsarewalls,ceilingsareceilingsandneverthetwainshallmeet,oratleastnotaslongasthereisashadowgapbetweenthem.

Loos’coloursensibilityisverydifferentandforveryspecificreasons.Loosusescolour like a decorator. He splashes it all over. It covers surfaces, delineates

2RaumplanversusPlanLibre:AdolfLoosandLeCorbusier,1910‐1930,editedbyMaxRisselda,publishedbyRizzoli,1988.2bImageSource:“LearningtoDwell:AdolfLoosintheCzechLands”byEllieStathakiImagesource:http://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/learning‐to‐dwell‐adolf‐loos‐in‐the‐czech‐lands/5125#415453ThePrincipleofCladding,essaybyAdolfLoos,reproducedinRaumplanversusPlanLibre.

volumesandsaturatesspace.Loos’colourisallenvelopingandimmersive.Ituseshigh contrast but not to draw attention to specific objects but tomore clearlycreatedifferencesinmoodandintensityofexperience.Thechildren’splayroomintheVillaMullerforinstanceisariotofcolour;blueandyellowfurnituresitsonaterracottacolouredfloorwithred‐lacqueredradiators.Notinsignificantlythisroomlookslikewhatitis:anursery.

Loos’ architecture is undoubtedly more conservative than Le Corbusier’s. Itretainsaspectsoffamiliarroomlayoutsandtraditionaldomesticplanning.Hisuseofcolourreinforcesthistosomeextent,emphasisingeachroomasdifferentfromitsneighbour.Spaceisnotfreeflowingandendlessbutboundedandspecifictothe requirements of use. Like most things with Loos though, this seemingconservatismdeliberatelyexpressestheschismbetweentraditionandmodernity.

Loos’inventionoftheRaumplanandthecomplexarchitecturalpromenadethatwasitsconsequencealsothreatenedtoshatterthestabilityoftheroomentirely.Colourisused,atleastpartially,toglueitbacktogether.ThestudyalcoveintheMollerHouseonlyhasthreeenclosingwallsforexample,allpaintedinturquoise.Thefourthwallisabsent,theroom’sopensideactingasanextensionofthemajorroutethroughthebuilding.Butasenseofenclosureisstillsuggestedbyaflyingbeam,paintedthesamesignalredastheotherarchitravesandmouldings,whichimplicitly completes the ‘room’. In effect, bitsof traditionaldecorationbecomedisembodied,removedfromthesupportingwallandusedtosuggesttraditionalspatialenclosures.Space isdefinedandbounded,but it isalso fragmentedandunstable.

HisapartmentforLeoBrummelcontainsperhapshismostextraordinarycolourschemeof all.The ceiling and the top sectionof thewalls arepaintedabrightyellow.Theskirtingsandcupboardsarevermillionredwhilethearchitravesandlowersectionsofwallaremattblack.Thecarpetispeagreen.Colourherenotonlycreates mood and ambience but is also deeply involved in the creation ofboundaries:theboundariesbetweenspacesandmoods,peopleandthings,menandwomen.Loos’interiorsarenothingifnotsymbolicallycharged.

Loosnevermentionsanyofthis,butotherpeopledo.BeatrizColominahaswrittenoftheplaysofgenderandsexualpoliticsenshrinedinLoos’interiors4.Mostlythisis constructed spatially, although the choice of materials plays a part. ColourthoughisintrinsictoLoos’symbolicorderingorganisationofspace.Sometimesitistheonlyaspectoftheroomthatisconventionalorfamiliar.Itisatemporarysourceofcomfortthen,thebestthatLoosfelthecouldoffer.UltimatelyLoos’owncodificationsofcolour–yellow=feminine,blackandred=masculine,forexample–arelessinterestingthanthemannerinwhichheappliesit.

InThePrincipleofCladding,Loosmanagestomakepaintingasurfaceanissueofhonestyandethics.Buthishonestyisofacomplexkind.Afaithfulnesstoeffectisasimportantasafaithfulnesstomaterialsortostructurallogic.Paint,thickglossypaint, is for Loos a material, a kind of cladding. It has material value and

4TheSplitWall:DomesticVoyeurism,byBeatrizColominaessayinSexualityandSpace,publishedbyPrincetonArchitecturalPress.

psychological impact. It is not a depthless plane. It ismatter. Itmaybe barelymillimetresthick,butexperientiallyitisdeep.