Color and architecture in 1970s Sweden

Abstract

AbstractThe 1970s in Sweden saw a distinct change of attitude concerning color in architecture, from the use of strong primary colors, grey concrete and brick at the beginning of the decade to a lighter, more nuanced palette of pink and yellow toward the end of it. From being a significant token in a broader popular movement with commercial overtones, color, as the decade went on, increasingly demanded a stronger professional approach. The study addresses color in architecture as a cultural phenomenon, amenable to interpretation. In the analysis, color can consequently be used as a vehicle for understanding 1970s architecture within a social context.The debate on architecture in the 1970s was very much concerned with managing the legacy of discussions in previous decades. During the 1960s, good architecture in professional contexts had generally meant design adapted to modes of production, the handling of large volumes, additive vocabulary, and modular repetition. The reaction against this way of defining good architecture came out into the open during the 1970s. The focus on color in the 1970s, partly driven by the Anthroposophical society, helped to build a bridge and unleash a new discussion on how architecture and habitats should be designed in order to acquire significance in people's lives. The choices of colors underlining the expressions of structure, authenticity, and collective were gradually replaced by a striving for harmonic space, tradition, and individuality. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 492–498, 2014