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Colour energy and wellbeing in the context of architecture and design are underestimated in terms of the value they bring to design, branding and real estate development in all sectors, ranging from residential to corporate projects, including the hospitality and luxury industry. Colour, with a particular focus on its latent energy, has not yet been sufficiently explored, researched or discussed, and remains one of the great mysteries of perception. Colour is essential for life and survival, and reaches far beyond art and the decoration of space. The sensation of colour, as an expression of the sense of sight, influences wellbeing and is connected to deeply embedded themes and patterns on emotional, cultural, or personal levels, through which it impacts on wellbeing, health, and decision-making in essential ways, not least because vision has replaced odour as the most essential sense for survival. The majority of all conscious and unconscious decisions are affected by notions of colour, a discipline of constant debate in both art and science. Architecture is somewhere in between, and practising architects are expected to provide the client with individual solutions based on informed decisions. When they do this, however, basing their decisions on experience, unspecified knowledge and intuition, they are often perceived as arrogant. Architecture and the design of space are a constant concern for everyone. The desire to build a home, a temple or a public building in a three dimensional environment is a fundamental urge and as old as mankind itself. Yet perhaps because of these strong impulses, the complexity of creating space is often underestimated. Our body records millions of impressions per minute across all five senses. The five senses keep us alive; they warn, nurture, and alert us, and human perception is based on receiving the vibrations caused by energy fields. These sensory vibrations are directly linked with the human body and it is through them that experiences like I am feeling good in this space and even unconscious memories are triggered. Clients may expect the architect to know everything about the perception of space. Architecture, however, is a very complex matter, and in most academic programs little or no time is allowed for the in-depth study of perception, psychology, colour energy, or wellbeing. Even architecture and interior design are often conflated, and treated as one combined subject rather than two complementary disciplines. What is most striking is that colour is often ignored in Western architecture. Furthermore, there is a bias in the literature and education of the West when compared to the holistic approach in the East. In the Orient, holistic means body, spirit and soul. In the Occident, in contrast, it means body, mind and brain. Spirit and soul are missing. And although the sense of something missing becomes more evident in the West, research fights shy of spirit and soul, and leaves unaddressed questions like: 1. What is the relation of colour energy, wellbeing and space in the Occident and Orient? 2. Why is colour not used more often and more instrumentally to improve wellbeing and influence perception? 3. Where do the inhibitions and obstacles come from that prevent occidental architecture and design from reflecting and applying ancient oriental knowledge and belief to colour healing, health, and wellbeing? As a colour theorist, architect and designer I propose that colour energy offers effective principles that provide an invaluable source for informed architectural decisions, which are genuinely independent of subjective taste or contemporary fashion trends, and that enable a truly holistic approach. This research proposes that wellbeing is both timeless and priceless and that wellbeing, health and perception can be stimulated by colour energy.

The overall aim of the thesis is to discuss cultural significations and notions of colour in Swedish post-war architecture. More specifically, the purpose is to analyse the question of colour in architecture linked to the polychrome walls of Årsta Community Centre, including background, intentions, cultural context and debate. Årsta Community Centre, situated just south of Stockholm, was built in 1947-53. The buildings as well as the colourful paintings covering the walls facing the square were designed by architects and brothers Erik and Tore Ahlsén. Newspapers and journals showed a clear indignation concerning the colourful exterior walls. Why did the polychrome walls at Årsta raise so much attention and cause such criticism? And how are these reactions related to contemporary ideas of colour in architecture in general? The thesis is divided into six chapters. The introductory chapter is followed by a historical retrospect with examples of use and notions of colour in architecture, in order to present a prelude to post-war thoughts and design. This text leads up to two central concepts developed for this thesis: Structural and independent colour effect. The third chapter presents Årsta Community Centre with focus on the polychrome walls at Årsta square, analysing the role of the architects and the cultural and social environment in which they were interacting. Special attention is paid to the important inspiration provided by the thoughts of the Danish artist and writer Asger Jorn. The forth chapter deals with the critique of Årsta square as well as arguments in contemporary debates concerning colour in architecture (as for example in the Apollo and Dionysus-debate). Chapter five discusses the role of independent colour effect in art and architecture of the 1940´s and 50´s related to examples of contemporary ideas and use of history. The conclusions of the study are presented in the sixth chapter. It contains an interpretation of the polychrome space, mainly focusing on two themes: The first is the understanding of the square as a theatre, based on historical social and urban patterns. The second is the suggestion of a modernistic language of colour and architecture for common man that is universal and time-less, challenging established social and material hierarchies. The thesis finishes with an analysis and a summary point by point of the critique directed at the colours of Årsta Community Centre with main emphasis on the underlaying political motives. / <p>QC 20101112</p>

Abstract In my study of architecture, I have surveyed the interior of the apartment from the perspective of colouration, in Finland from 1948 to 1955. My study comprised traditionally considered high-cultured architecture — legitimate architecture — and architecture representing the everyday, which does not have the status of legitimate architecture. My research into this subject adopted a material based approach, with qualitative research methods and applied with a theory-guided content analysis. The periodicals Arkkitehti and Kaunis Koti formed the central content of my study, representing legitimate and popular architecture from the post-war reconstruction period. On the basis of this material, I compiled a depiction of the colouration of the home during the postwar reconstruction period. In addition, I studied the use of colours in legitimate and popular architecture during that period. There has been no previous systematic depiction of the interiors of the home in Finland. The presupposition of my study was that during the post-war reconstruction period, the colour preferences of architects and the general public neared. During the post-war reconstruction period, the attention of most architects was directed towards the living conditions and needs of the general public. The primary focus of architects was in housing. This was due to the large number of homeless people requiring housing after the war. From the basis of functionalism, the discourse on the social content of architecture created the foundation for building planning during the post-war reconstruction period. In the material examined in this study, colour was identified with happiness. Nature connected the Finnish people. Even in the urban setting, the experience of nature was considered important. The multihued greenery of the window shelf present in almost every living room was one display of "the living spirit" of nature brought into the urban apartment. During the post-war reconstruction period, colouration of interiors was not homogenous. The composition of the colouration, and the ways in which colour were used, changed according to the room type. The over-arching concept in the colouration of the rooms was that of a purposeful aesthetic. The changes were connected with the development phase of the room type, its contents, as well as the importance of the space in comparison to the entirety of spaces in the apartment. In addition to the colouration change between room types, some of the apartment furnishings and their colouration changed noticeably during the post-war reconstruction period. The importance of good taste was also emphasised in different ways in different room types. In the colouration of older, established room types issues of good taste were often raised, and the interior was constructed on the basis of critique of previous interior design colourations. In connection with newer room types, such as the kitchen and the children's room, a purposeful aesthetic was at the forefront and good taste was hardly talked about, since colouration was not given as a value in relation to what had come before. Dissymmetry of colouration was common for all home interiors. The dissymmetry was derived from the modernity principle of embracing the new and forbidding the traditional. Personal observations in the use of associative and dissociative names for colours, displays Bourdieu's conception of good taste, represented in the formation of legitimate taste and popular taste. However, the criticism of Shusterman displays well, that this is a definition derived from high-culture, which is already value-ridden. The romantic period during the post-war reconstruction period, the content of which is understandable also from a popular viewpoint, showed clearly in the works of the architects. For many architects, the period remained short. From the perspective of Bourdieu, it can be thought that legitimate taste had for a moment neared popular taste. The "blue flower of romantic thought" did not blossom for long and the taste representing legitimate, rational thought regained its position. According to my supposition, the taste of popular and high-culture had nonetheless, momentarily neared. / Tiivistelmä Arkkitehtuurin alaan kuuluvassa tutkimuksessani, tarkastelen asunnon sisustusta värityksen näkökulmasta Suomessa vuosina 1948—1955. Tarkastelussani rinnakkain ovat perinteisesti korkeakulttuurina pidetty rakennustaide, legitiimi arkkitehtuuri, ja arjen käytäntöjä edustava arkkitehtuuri, jolla ei ole legitiimin arkkitehtuurin statusta. Tarkastelen tutkimusaihettani aineistolähtöisesti laadullisen tutkimuksen keinoin teoriasidonnaisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Arkkitehti-lehti ja Kaunis koti -lehti muodostavat tutkimukseni keskeisen aineiston jälleenrakennuskauden legitiimin ja populaarin arkkitehtuurin ilmentäjinä. Tutkimuksessani kokoan aineistoon perustuvan kuvauksen jälleenrakennuskauden kodin värityksestä sekä tutkin tuon ajan legitiimin ja populaarin arkkitehtuurin värinkäyttöä. Kodin tilojen värityksestä ei ole aiemmin laadittu systemaattista kuvausta Suomessa. Tutkimukseni esioletuksena oli, että jälleenrakennuskaudella arkkitehtien ja suuren yleisön kodin värinkäyttöön liittyvät mieltymykset olivat lähellä toisiaan. Jälleenrakennuskaudella arkkitehtikunnan huomio oli kohdentunut suuren yleisön elinoloihin ja tarpeisiin. Arkkitehtikunnan suunnittelutehtävän painopiste oli asuntotuotannossa, sillä suuri määrä sodan jälkeen kodittomiksi jääneitä oli asutettava. Funktionalismin pohjalta käyty keskustelu arkkitehtuurin sosiaalisesta sisällöstä loi pohjaa jälleenrakennuskauden asuntosuunnittelulle. Aineistossani väri vertautui iloisuuteen. Luonto yhdisti suomalaisia. Kaupunkiympäristössäkin luontokokemusta pidettiin tärkeänä. Kodin sisustuksessa lähes poikkeuksetta esiintynyt olohuoneen kukkaikkuna oli yksi osoitus kaupunkiasuntoon tuodusta luonnon "elävästä hengestä". Jälleenrakennuskauden kodin sisustuksen väritys oli epäyhtenäinen. Värityksen sisällöt ja tavat käyttää väriä vaihtelivat huonetyypeittäin. Yhdistävänä yläkäsitteenä huonetilojen värityksessä oli tarkoituksenmukaisuuden estetiikka. Vaihtelut liittyivät huonetyypin kehitysvaiheeseen ja sisältöihin sekä tilalle annettuun painoarvoon asunnon huonetilojen kokonaisuudessa. Huonetyypin värityksen keskinäisen vaihtelun lisäksi osa kodin tilojen sisustuksista ja niiden värityksistä muuttui selvästi jälleenrakennuskauden kuluessa. Myös hyvän maun merkitystä korostettiin eri tavoin eri huonetyypeissä. Vanhempien, jo vakiintuneiden huonetyyppien sisustuksen värityksessä hyvä maku otettiin usein esiin ja hyvän maun mukainen sisutus rakentui aiempien sisustustyylien värityksen kritiikin kautta. Uudempien huonetyyppien, kuten keittiön ja lastenhuoneen, yhteydessä tarkoituksenmukaisuuden estetiikka oli etusijalla eikä hyvästä mausta puhuttu juuri lainkaan, sillä väritystä ei arvotettu suhteessa aiempaan. Värityksen epäsymmetrisyys oli yhteistä kaikille tarkastelemilleni kodin tilojen värityksille. Epäsymmetria ilmensi moderniteettiin sisältyvää ajatusta uudesta ja tradition kieltämisestä. Havaintoni assosiatiivisten ja ei-assosiatiivisten värinnimitysten käytöstä havainnollistaa Bourdieun ajatusta hyvää makua edustavan legitiimin maun ja populaarin maun muodostumisesta. Shustermanin kritiikki tuo kuitenkin hyvin esiin korkeakulttuurin piiristä lähtevän määritelmän, joka jo lähtökohtaisesti on arvovarautunut. Jälleenrakennuskauden romanttinen ajanjakso, jonka sisällöt olivat ymmärrettäviä myös populaarin näkökulmasta, näkyi selvästi arkkitehtien tuotannossa. Jakso jäi monen arkkitehdin kohdalla lyhytaikaiseksi. Bourdieu'n näkökulmasta voi ajatella, että legitiimi maku oli hetkellisesti lähentynyt populaaria makua. Jälkikäteen katsottuna arkkitehdit ovat tulkinneet maun rämettyneen väliaikaisesti. "Romantiikan sininen kukka" ei kovin pitkään ehtinyt kukkia, ja legitiimiä rationaalia linjaa edustanut maku valtasi asemansa takaisin. Esioletukseni mukaisesti populaarin ja korkeakulttuurin maku olivat silti hetkellisesti lähentyneet toisiaan.