About the “effekt und affekt” issue
This issue of der architekt aims to provide an insight into the psychological effects of architecture on people. This issue aims to address the stimuli and effects of architecture on users and the potential of architectural psychology from various perspectives: from the perspective of Gestalt psychology, environmental psychology, occupational psychology, experimental neuropsychology, from the perspective of current debates on the design of patient rooms in hospitals, parks and green spaces, housing estates and much more.
The effect of colors on human experience and behavior
Understanding the diverse effects of colors on human experience and behavior is at the heart of modern color psychology. To find out why colors exist at all, or in other words, why color vision is so important for our species that it takes up most of the brain’s capacity, we need to take a closer look at its biological functions. I looked at various fields of research in biology and, for the first time, classified all the vital functions of color according to significant characteristics. The seven categories I came up with result in the seven basic biological functions of colors: orientation, health, warning, camouflage, advertising, status and communication.
The deeds of light
Colors are “acts of light”, according to Johann Wolfgang Goethe. We therefore need to ensure that they do exactly the right thing for us in every situation. Without a balance between psyche and physique, inner world and outer space, expectation and reality, there is no harmony. Every place and every social situation has a specific development potential that can be activated by colors. In our case, we involved doctors and nursing staff, as well as hospital management, the staff council and technical staff in the design process right from the start. We need to know what the colors are supposed to achieve before we start working on the concept. Through the participatory process with users and those responsible, precisely the knowledge that is decisive for the formation of design criteria comes to the fore. Colors have an overwhelming power over our experience and behavior. We must therefore carefully consider what we use this power for.
Link to the publisher of the magazine der architekt – Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten BDA
