Colors in the Urban Landscape

This master's dissertation, written during my studies at ENSA Versailles, grew out of a passion I have always had for color — in the environment at large, and in the city in particular. I chose to study it in depth in the urban landscape, taking Versailles as my ground: a surprisingly colorful city.

The first part studies the colors of Versailles and, above all, their emotional impact on its inhabitants — backed by a questionnaire. It also explores chromatic interactions: how flat areas of color that sit side by side, overlap or layer are felt differently depending on their neighbors.

The second part goes back to the historical and heritage origins of the colors of Versailles, and traces their evolution through history.

The third part looks at today's urban landscape: how new buildings take up this chromatic landscape and fit into it, and how legislation strongly curbs the addition of color — drastically narrowing the palette allowed for new construction, and leaving, in the end, little chromatic renewal in the city.

Here are a few pages from the printed dissertation, to give a sense of it.

And to read it in full — 172 pages —, the complete document is right here.

I was very happy to work on color during my architecture studies, and it's a subject that still fascinates me. I love playing with colors — and materials — in everything I do.