Often, colour anticipates externally the internal functions. For example, the forms and shades of the exterior of the Santa Caterina Market in Barcelona make reference to the histories, the movement and vitality that characterise the commercial space below. The thousands of hexagonal tiles in more than 60 different shades are nothing other than the abstraction of a typical fruit and vegetable stall. The same principle applies for the project of La Comédie de Béthune Theatre in France, which accentuates the existing building with a burgundy tint and contrasts it with the shiny black chosen for the new expansion. The warm and timeless tone of the burgundy, together with the rhomboidal weaving that links the two volumes, recalls theatre seating and curtains, but also presents a reference to the brickwork of Nordic façades.

The colours are often associated with the context in which the work was designed, until becoming an integral part there of, as in the case of the redevelopment of the Piazza Verdi in La Spezia. The project makes the area act as a link between a historical and modern city, the sea and the mountains, through the visual telescopical works of artist Daniel Buren. The bright tones of the portals recall the futuristic mosaics inside the Palazzo delle Poste tower, just as the utilisation of mirrors highlights the precious architecture in the surrounds through infinite visual references. The Arena in Bilbao, created by the AXCT architectural studio, is positioned on a hill and is designed like a tree, supported by trunk-like pillars. The exterior is comprised of steel panels, painted in such a way as to recall the movement of the leaves exposed to the movement of the wind.

References to the territory are also found in Mastaba, the grandiose project of Christo and Jeanne-Claude designed for the desert south of Abu Dhabi. The only permanent large-scale work by the artists, it is set to become the largest sculpture in the world, with a volume that would be able to contain the Great Pyramid of Giza within. Comprised of 410,000 oil barrels painted in ten different hues, it is inspired by the red and yellow sands of the area and recalls the intricacies of an Islamic mosaic.

Ultimately, as you can guess, the colours also identify the epochs and represent our contemporarity, their use in architecture thus adapting to the sudden change in our way of life. Mutating, temperamental and dynamic colours are paired with an increasingly computerised world. The buildings will tell stories and emotions through new interactive coverings and animate the night with hints of light and projections.