Urban Furniture’s Chromatic Planning Methodology: Bucelas, a Case Study

Abstract

This paper presents a work in progress, that is part of a Post-Doctoral Research and aims to develop and test a new chromatic planning methodology for urban furniture. This methodology records all environmental colors from a chosen settlement in order to establish its dominant colors and, consequently, make it possible to define the urban furniture colors, which should make a chromatic and luminosity contrast with the environment. Simultaneously, this contrasting color application to urban furniture will enable its elements to stand out from their background, transforming them in inclusive factors as they become more visible for people with vision difficulties. The urban furniture chromatic planning will, also, contribute for the local identification and, in big cities where all the neighborhoods may have each one color for its urban furniture, it will ameliorate the city orientation. In this case study, the chosen settlement – Bucelas – is a small rural town near Lisbon.