URBAN COLOR
color and light
for the urban/human
environment
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Skyscraper
Melegnano (Italia)
Before and after
a color/paint scheme
to create a harmony
in the urban and natural
environment.
1996
urban color design
by Laura Ruggeri
see +
click on each image
to see them
in a larger size
client
Arch. Claudio Maglio, Melegnano (Italia)
project
urban color design
«...»
The sun is a brush and we can use the guidance of this brush to harmonize the environment we create with that which has already been created.- LR
«...»
[...] during the color design of the "Skyscraper" of Melegnano, my thoughts were always with the people living inside the apartments.
[...] the color yellow and its nuances was the solution to the need to give them an environment perceptively brighter, more expansive, more upbeat. A very light gray was the solution for the color underneath the balconies to lighten the verticality of the building.
[...] I chose 5 tonalities of the same yellow: from the most saturated, for the sides exposed to the sun (south and west), to the least saturated, for the sides in the shade (north and east) to simulate the light of the sun during the day.
These 5 tonalities were also used vertically to paint the floors, 1 tone for every 2 floors. The lower floors, being in shade most of the time, needed progressively more light, so I used the lightest tones at street level and more saturated colors for each 2 higher floors. See the
last 2 pictures on this page to see this effect clearly.
[...] For the color underneath the balconies, which are always in the shade, i chose a very light gray...it was very exciting to see the effect of this color from the street looking up the first time :-D the balconies magically merged with the color of the sky. The same light gray color was chosen for the window and door frames and for the rolling window shutters. This light gray, when seen together with the yellow, looks like the color of the sky, thanks to the effect of
after-image or simultaneous contrast... the effect is even stronger with a bright sunlight and a clear blue sky.- LR
