Color Theory Booklet by Jenny Cen

COLOR THEORY JENNY CEN

TABLE OF CONTENTS M.1 - Who are YOU?

M.2 - Color + Culture

M.4 - Color + Designers

M.6 - Color + Environment

M.8 - Color + Emphasis

M.9 - Color + Rendering

M.10 - Color + Variety (Office)

M.11 - Color + Variety (Hotel)

WHO ARE YOU? JENNY CEN

INTRODUCTION

WHO AM I?

I am Jenny Cen. I am currently a student at Florida International University studying to get an Architecture degree. My family background stems from China for my father and Vietnam for my mother but my younger brother and I were born in Miami. In turn, this has allowed me to learn and speak in different languages such as English, Spanish, Cantonese, Manderin, and Vietnamese. Images: Me heading out to a wedding / Me and my best friend having fun at Michaels

WHY DESIGN?

Design is something I find extremely beautiful and fascinating. From the way art can be worked to have structure and guidelines but at the same time given so much freedom to create is what keeps me engaged. My creative passion in architecture is playing around with shapes and figuring out how to manipulate them to create something unique. I throughly enjoy building models and using my hands as I find the process of building something physical to be relaxing. Images: Rendered perspective of my project / Close-up shot of my model

TRAVEL+CULTURE

Being an architecture major, traveling has always been a major want for me as there is no better way to explore the world than going there yourself. I’ve had the pleasure to explore places like Canada, California, Hong Kong, and Venezuela. I hope to eventually spread my wings even further and visit places such as New York, Japan, South Korea, Hawaii, Alaska, etc. Images: Online picture of Hawaii / Online picture of Alaska / Online picture of Japan

HOBBIES

When I am not busy with schoolwork, I love spending my time creating art of all different mediums from traditional to digital. My art mainly consists of landscapes capturing the beauty of nature and the stories it can tell. Images: Painting of a wave crashinig / Digital art of river in Tokyo / Hand embroidery of river in Tokyo / Digital art of the sea shore with nova lights scattered throughout / Digital art of a scene from the movie ‘Tangled’

COLOR

Color is somethinig I care about a lot and try to integrate as much of it into my daily life as possible. I love going out and feeling my best so I try to dress in stylish clothing with hints of fun. I am most drawn to either neutral or warm colors depending on my mood but tend to stray away from neon or extremely saturated colors. Images: Me in a blue beautiful top and khaki skirt / Refrigerated bread at a korean store / Chinese decoration at an Asian store / Bibimbap ordered from a korean restaurant / Me showing off a shirt bought from an artist I admire

SOURCES

Image of Hawaii: https:// wallpaperaccess.com/hawaii-beach Image of Alaksa: https:// wallpaperaccess.com/alaskamountains-winter Image of Japan: https://www. instagram.com/nao1979411/ Image of flower field: https://www. walpaperlist.com/2020/01/highresolution-flower-field-wallpaper.html

CHINA

MY CULTURE

China is one of the oldest countries in the world. It’s colors stem from thousands of years of tradidion where it’s preserved to this day and is seen on clothings, paintings, ceramics, etc. In Ancient China, colors are used to represent social status and misuse of the colors can lead to severe punshiment. China’s variety of color is based on the Five Elements Theory where red, yellow, green, black, and white are its main colors. It is believed that each of these colors is connected to the cosmos and therefore holds a symbolic meaning. China’s flag contains the two most important colors of the country, red and yellow. The red is seen covering the entire flag to represent the communist revolution with five golden stars, one larger than the rest, at the top left quadrant representing the leadership of China and its people.

Red symbolizes joy, luck, happiness, blood, and life itself. It reprsents the element of fire and the hot summer days.

Yellow symbolizes wealth, power, and royalty. It represents the element of earth and the symbol of pornography today.

Green symbolizes wealth, harmony, growth, and vegetation. It is most commonly seen used in jade jewelry and statues.

Black symbolizes death, illness, and cruelty. It represents the element of water. It must not be worn on special occasions.

GREECE

CULTURE OF CHOICE

The conception of color in Greece is vastly different from other countries as they view color to be fluid. Their experiements with dyeing clothes had led them to a fascination with color change. Although achieving these intense hues were difficult and meant you had wealth if you were able to obtain them. This meant that the more “dull” colors were mainly for everyday use. The Greece Flag included their two main colors, blue and white. It contains nine blue and white alternating stripes across the board with a white cross on a blue square at the upper left corner. The white symbolizes Greek Orthodox Christianity while the blue represents Greece’s sky and Mediterranean sea. A total of nine stripes are used to represent the battle cry during the revolt against the Ottoman Occupation where they shouted nine syllables saying “Eleutheria H Thanatos” or “Freedom or Death”. The nine stripes also represent the rise of Aphrodite and the nine muses rising from the sea foam.

Blue symbolizes the color of the sea and the God of the sea. It can be seen from their blue eye amulets as a protector to ward off evil.

White symbolizes the pure ideals of classical Greece such as democracy and moderation. It is the color of the gods and purity.

Orange symbolizes the importance of the Sun to the Greeks as light is treated with caution and care in almost every aspect.

Red symbolizes a change in life status. Red cloaks are worn by boys signifying their entry to becoming men and red veils are worn by brides.

BARRAGAN HOUSE AND STUDIO LUIS BARRAGAN JENNY CEN

The Barragán House and studio was designed by Luis Ramiro Barragán Morfín. He is recognized as one of the greatest figures in modern Mexican architecture. Known for winning a Pritzker Prize in 1989 due to his widely recognizable play with color, light, shadow, form, and texture.

Barragán was born in 1902 in Guadalajara where he graduated as a civil engineer and architect. His works were heavily inspired by European, Mediterranean, and Muslim cultures. He grew fascinated by the beauty of the gardens in which he would later integrate into his work by creating straight solid walls and courtyards that opened up to the sky.

A few of his most successful works include the Torres de Satélite, Los Clubes, and Casa Gilardi. Similar concepts and color decisions can be seen in these projects as well.

LUIS BARRAGAN

PROJECT CONCEPT

The Barragan House is located in Cuerámaro, Mexico, and was built in 1948. The 2 stories residential house is made out of plastered concrete material. The project focuses on using windows and flat planes in order to capture the essence of light, both natural and artificial. Barragán believes architecture to be like poetry where he is allowed to freely express himself and tell his story in a personal creative way. It is evident from the several animal relics and crosses sprinkled throughout the house. He made sure these pieces fit in with the aesthetics of the house as to have that cultural flare of bold pink, yellow, and lilac throughout the house.

COLOR SIGNIFICANCE The main colors of the buildings can be seen to incorporate an analogous color scheme with hints of tint added on. This was meant to evoke an emotional response where it can inspire people and elevate their imaginations. The important relationship between light and pink comes into play from the different color values seen spread throughout the building. These differences in color values do not seem noticeable at first but the addition of light shows a “change” in color. The grey exterior concrete facade was chosen to blend in with its neighboring construction buildings in which their house would go unnoticed so as to not disturb the flow.

REFERENCES

https://www.archdaily.com/102599/ad-classics-casa-barragan-luis-barragan https://www.archdaily.com/607209/spotlight-luis-barragan https://archeyes.com/luis-barragan-house-studio/ https://www.barragan-foundation.org https://www.thefutureperfect.com/present_tense/articles/luis-barragan

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL M6 COLOR + ENVIRONMENT - FILM ANALYSIS - JENNY CEN

FILM SUMMARY

The Grand Budapest Hotel takes us on a journey through different time narratives where we are first greeted with a girl sitting outside in the snow with a book in her hand wanting to learn more about this great hotel. The scene then takes its first time skip back in time to the author of the book’s perspective where you see the man walk us through his experience of visiting the hotel. There he meets one of the main protagonists, Zero. The author grew a sudden interest in Zero and was eventually invited to dinner with him. Here is where we meet our next time skip back to the 1930s. This takes place in the point of view of Zero when he was younger, working as a lobby boy. In this timeline is where we meet our other main protagonist, Gustave H. Zero Moustafa was hired to be his new lobby boy in which he would work specifically for Gustave as an apprentice. After the murder of Madame D, Gustave was entrusted with a famous painting called “Boy with Apple” but was then suspecting by Dmitri, her son, for killing her. This sends us on an thrilling adventure where we witness the beautiful bond between Gustave and Zero grow closer as they are on a mission to protect the painting while escaping from the Dmitri, his assassin, and the government before World War 2 begins.

CONCEPT OF TIME

The film transitions through four different time periods that each have their independent color palettes containing different meanings. The two main timelines take place in the 1930s and 1960s where it shows the Budapest Hotel at its prime and when its starting to lose traction. The movie starts off in the present time as the color palette takes on a more light, desaturated tone where you see this young girl reading a book about the Budapest Hotel. This causes the first flashback to occur where the colors are now a bit brighter with lots of orange and brown taking up the entire composition. In this timeline, a male author talks about the time he visited the hotel when it was devoid of life but transitioned to an even brighter color palette. This is where he met the current owner of the hotel, Zero where talked about the time of his life living at the hotel when he was younger. At this point is where we are taken to the main time period of the movie in the 1940s. The color palette is seen to be the most brightest and saturated its ever been with pink and white covered everywhere. It is the most vibrant as it signifies when the hotel was at its best with rich people taking up the majority of the building.

PINK

Pink is one of the main colors that takes place in this film as its seen in the main timeline where the Budapest hotel is covered from top to bottom in pink. The decision of such a bright joyful color was used in order to be used as a distraction for the rich from the harsh realities of the outside. The hotel was made to be a place where the rich can ignore their problems and just bask in the luxaries and services the hotel has to offer. Pink is also used to represent love as Zero, one of the main characters, meets a young girl named Agatha, who becomes his love interest as they share many endearing moments with the pink to signify the genuine love they feel for each other.

ORANGE

Orange is a color seen used mostly in the beginning of the film which takes place in 1930. Since it most apparent in the later years of the hotel’s life and the residents that used to be in it, orange is a stark contrast from the pink. Unlike the “fairly-like” feel of the pink, orange is meant to tell us that we are closer to the present time. Orange works well to compliment colors like black to show what should be focused on. At the dinner table scene with Zero, you can see him wearing a black suit to show that he is an important part of this story and that we should remember him.

BLACK/GREY

The biggest color contrast of all would have to be Wes Anderson’s use of the color black and grey. With how much of a precense these colors have, Wes was careful to use them sparingly as they are only used when necessary. The most noticeable of the sorts was the black used to represent Dmitri and his family tree. He is the main antogonist of the story as he despises Gustave for being entrusted with an incredibly valueble painting, “Boy with Apple”. The other main villain of the story is an assassin named Jopling. It is immedietely known that he is dangerous from his black leather attire and the way he hides himself in the shadows. The color grey takes a secondary role as it is most assoociated with the military and govenment that play a part in disrupting Zero and Gustave’s train rides. Lots of grey was used for a good portion of the movie that takes place in the winter snow. These scenes contained the parts of Zero and Gustave escaping prison and running away from the police.

BLUE

Another important color that was used to represent the sad darker tones of the film was blue. Blue is known to represent quietness which can be seen taking place after Zero and Gustave escaped from the prison guards. In the last two images to the left, you can see tell these are more quiet praceful scenes compared to others where they are calling for help and waiting outside for them. Both of them have a rather serious conversation reflecting on themselves and each other to signify their strong brotherly bond. “Calm before the storm” was represented with lots of tints of blue as the top first image shows the slow chase scene of the assassination of Deputy Kovacs. This entire scene was suspensful as you see the deputy head into a museum while being followed by Jopling.

SOURCES https://thesouloftheplot.wordpress.com/2014/11/24/the-grand-budapest-hotel/ https://abbiericeyfilm.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/the-grand-budapest-hotel-colour-analysis/ https://movietime.guru/the-grand-budapest-hotel-a-dissection-of-colour-style-60203b3eab13

NIKE Miami Beach Color + Environment Retail Analysis Jenny Cen

CONTRAST OF VALUE Contrary to the exterior look of the store, the interior presents lots of different colors to help it stand out from the black and white color palette the overall building has. As seen in the first picture. the stairs are painted in this black matte finish that gives the stairs a nice simple design. This is contrasted by the neon green strip railing handle that stretches from the top to bottom floor. The second floor contains a lot of more variety in color compared to the first floor. The most eye-catching aspect would be the holographic railings that helps give the space more life. Another example is the MIA sculpture at the center of the building. It is made out of a white metal material with the signiture Nike checkmark carved at the center. The mark is highlighted in a glowing neon blue to contrast it from the white.

CONTRAST OF HUE Nike’s black and white signature aesthetic is vastly known throughout the world. The store at Miami Beach is no different as the majority of building uses a large range of grey tones. This is immedietely recognized from the light grey exterior facade of the building. The facade is a simple grid-like pattern with an angular moment happening inside of each square. This facde can be seen covering the entire top half of the building with a black strucural grid contrasting it. This play on hue is also seen when travelling up the second floor. The black steps of the staircase is illuminated with a white light underneath each step as to not only help light the way up but to create that simple contrast of hue the building has.

CONTRAST OF DESIGN FEATURE There are many interesting design choices to be discovered in this Nike shoe store. In terms of color palette, all of them follow a similiar path of grey tones. The contrasts is seen in their design features. An excellent example is the concrete wall you see as you come in through the entrance. To your right, you see this gigantic wall of small metal sheets pinned against the wall. The bottom quarter of the wall is seen to be occupied with shoes with these small black poles holding them up for display. This is different from the rest of the wall being covered entirely by those metal sheets.

CONTRAST OF TEXTURE The building was filled with many varieties in materiality from the exterior facade to the interior railings. Each seemed to be have been thought out thoroughly to offer the best experience of what a Nike store aims to be. An example of difference in texture is the white metal material of the facade pattern that covers half of the building to the exterior glass windows taking up the whole site. The transparency of the glass makes the space inside feel open even though it is covered by the facade. From the second floor, you can only get a glimpse of the outside streets from the small openings of the pattern. Another contrast of texture is by the central seating area of the store. The seats contain a concrete material with thinner pieces of black metal on top for the customer to sit on. The grey concrete also shares the occupation of the black central staircase that leads to the second floor. This play of metal against concrete with the help of contrasting colors to tell the difference is a simple and great way to understand what role it plays.

FOCAL POINT It is no debate to see what is the focal point in this Nike store. At the center of the building contains a wide seating area made of grey concrete topped with a black metal sheet to sit on. At the top of the concrete block contains a white statue saying “MIA” and three basketball player sculptures made out of thin wire. The central seating area faces right infront of the checkout area to buy your items. This allows for customers in queue to have a place to sit as they wait for their turn to be called. This is also helpful for the employees at monitoring the people walking around the store.

COLOR + RENDERING JENNY CEN

CONCEPT STATEMENT Based on the location of my site, my narrative revolves around a large family wanting to create a space aimed specically for their children. Whether it be for the younglings of the main house or rented out to the public, the ADU is designed to accomodate everyone. The concept is to create a playful environment using angular systems in order to make the spaces feel relaxing but also exciting for the children to run around and interact in.

PLAYFUL This word was chosen because it is at the basis of my concept as the ADU is aimed towards children and creating a space where they are encouraged to have fun in the comfort of a house.

ANGULAR In order to make this ADU a place children would want to visit and live in is to use shapes that are not traditionally found in homes. The majority of the walls are angled to encourage the children to run around and explore.

COLORFUL For a kid to be interested in such a house, the use of color is one of the most important factors to consider. A nice balance between saturated and lighter colors are combined in order to not overwhelm the children with too much vibrancy to the point where they might feel uncomfortable.

MATERIALITY CONCEPT Based on the three words chosen by me, I decided upon these three material palettes. The first one is the saturared color of choice, blue colored concrete. This material will be seen on the interior walls of the house to bring some life while you live there. This blue is complimented by a coral pink wood texture for the flooring as it offers a nice balance to the bright blue. Lastly, an orange-brown colored wood is sprinkled throughout the house in its furniture and stairs.

GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION By combining the three choices of material and color, the ADU has resulted in a beautiful mixture between the saturated blue to the more lighter pink. I am quite pleased with the final product and can see these colors being applied to a house and becoing a reality. I am confident in saying that children would be interested in staying at a place like this.

COLOR + VARIETY Workplace Environment Analysis AutoDesk Office San Francisco, California

AUTODESK OFFICE Autodesk’s office in San Francisco, California searched to create a space that reflects their uniqueness of culture and materials, use of their evolving software technology, and to liven up the neighborhood of San Francisco. This building is important as it stands as a representation of the improvement made compared to the previous Autodesk building built that was designed with pencils and slide rulers. This is evident from their use of colors and materials throughout the building.

LINE Lines are prominent in almost anywhere throughout the building. The implementation of lines is used to provide a grid system for the office desk layouts. Lines are used to guide visitors to their destination from the way it is shown through a bright red or yellow.

SHAPE Being one of the faces of the CAD industry, it was important that the building portrays the many possibilities their programs do. This is evident as the building is seen to incorporate the use of angles often. An example would be the angular lines seen slicing from floor to wall to ceiling through a hallway.

COLOR The building focuses on incorporating primary colors into their spaces to create life and vibrancy. As you walk through the space, colors can be seen carefully splashed on certain elements such as the furniture and walls. These pops of color are contrasted by a white backdrop to assist the bright nature of the primary colors.

PATTERN Various types of patterns are present throughout the building. One of these include the interior design at the front desk. The space is covered with this contour-like pattern made of wood that creates a sense of comfort and allows customers to feel invited.

THE SETAI MIAMI BEACH

THE SUTAL HOTEL The Sutal hotel is has manyn locations but the one in Miami Beach holds up as a representation of the company’s main concept. The hotel aims to provide a luxurious Asian-styled design that bring a sense of tranqulity and Zen to its customers. The hotel is divided into two buildings with different styles with one having a more asian aestheitc and the other having a historical Art Deco design. The hotel offers many services including a restaurant, bar, spa, fitness center, and even beautiful spread of pools. By staying at this hotel you are greeted with a wide variety of Asian cuisine from Japan, China, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, and India.

LINE The hotel does a magnificent job at using lines and more so, a grid as a guideline to design the entire layout. With this being an Asian styled hotel, they are usually known for having a structure in the way they design that results in a simplisitc but beautiful layout. The simpliicity of the layout assists customers at navigating between each room in a more efficient and less confusing way.

SHAPE By having a use of a grid, the types of shapes resulted are mainly squares and rectangles. These shapes can be seen in almost any area you walk in. They can be found in the restaurant area as floor tiles, in the outside courtyard being used as supports for the trees located there, and even in your own bedroom as chairs and other furniture.

COLOR The hotel offers an absolutely beautiful color palette that are all pleasing to the eyes of the people staying there. There are two main color palttes that can be seen throughout the site which are the light colored white and blue aesthetic that is reminicent of the calming precense of the beach. This is contrasted by a brown-orange with white as a backdrop that can be seen in the courtyard and bar area.

TEXTURE All sorts of textures are seen used in every single space to make each of them rich in variety of materiality. The main materials used would be wood, glass, and metal. The most apparent is the wood as it is seen in the outside courtyard as furniture and trees, at the restaurant and bedroom as floor tiles and walls. Views are important in creating the Zen-like aesthetic they have so glass is used sparingly in certain areas but mainly the hotel rooms.

CONCLUSION By having the luxury of taking a class related to color and architecture has brought to me a new sense of appreciation to color and how it is applied to everything around us. Color is a subject that requires an immense amount of time and thought put in in order to make sure the audience reacts the way you intended. Color in architecture is another language of its own as it is based solely around for the people. This results in architects and designers to use color palettes that are not too overwhelming nor bland. Color is extremely important as it influences the way people occupy it and if they even want to approach it at all. By having a sense of structure and plan behind it, we are able to create spaces worth being in.