Abstract
The research exploited a unique architectural setting of a university residence hall composed by six separate buildings that matched for every architectural detail and differed only for the interior color (violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red). Four hundred and forty-three students living in the six buildings for an average of 13.33 months participated in a study that assessed color preference (hue and lightness), lightness preference, and the effects of color on studying and mood. The results showed a preference for blue interiors, followed by green, violet, orange, yellow, and red. A preference bias was found for the specific color in which the student lived. Gender differences emerged for the preference of blue and violet. Room-lightness was significantly affected by the interior color. Room ceiling was preferred white. Blue as interior color was considered to facilitate studying activity. The use of differentiated colors in the six buildings was evaluated to significantly facilitate orienting and wayfinding. A significant relation was found between a calm mood and preference for blue.
Highlights
Color is a ubiquitous property of every architectural surface, evidence-based research on chromatic preference in architecture and psychological effects of color as a function of the architectural design of a space is still sparse
Whereas color on external façades influences the perception of the overall urban design and has mainly an aesthetic role (Mougthtin et al, 1995), color in interior design could significantly affect residential satisfaction and psychological and social functioning in addition to having an aesthetic value
In the specificity of our study, we exploited a unique architectural setting composed by six buildings that differed only for the interior color, investigating pleasantness for each specific color; how this pleasantness related to general chromatic preference, the effects of the interior color on lightness level and lightness satisfaction, and the effect of the color on the residents’ functioning and mood
Summary
Color is a ubiquitous property of every architectural surface, evidence-based research on chromatic preference in architecture and psychological effects of color as a function of the architectural design of a space is still sparse. According to his study the most preferred color was blue, followed by red, green, violet, orange, and yellow. Dark shades of orange (browns) and yellow (olives) tend to be strongly disliked relative to lighter, saturated oranges and yellow (Guilford and Smith, 1959; Palmer and Schloss, 2010) Color preference in these studies was assessed rating preselected color patches (either as physical colored chips, or presented on computer monitor), or asking participants to imagine colors, and was not referred to specific objects. The red-green system accounts mainly for sex differences, with females that prefer colors with “reddish” contrast against the background in comparison to males (Hurlbert and Ling, 2007) In another perspective, color preference could be grounded on emotional associations of colors.
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