Bridging the Gap: Façade Colour, Aesthetic Response and Planning Policy

Abstract

The value of environmental visual quality is now well recognized and the need to maintain scenic amenity is influencing planning guidelines and development control plans in many countries, including Australia. This influence has extended to planning guidelines relating to façade colour. In Sydney, Australia, such guidelines tend to be highly prescriptive and often suggest that façade colours should be harmonious, compatible or sympathetic relative to the surroundings. These guidelines seem to imply that aesthetic response to façade colour is universal and deterministic; that is, one category of façade colour will invariably be perceived as harmonious irrespective of other factors. This paper reports on two preliminary studies that investigated façade colour. The studies found that the range of façade colours evaluated as harmonious was broader than expected. It appears that a gap exists between the notion of harmonious façade colour as implied in planning guidelines and actual responses to façade colour. Consequently, a model of façade colour development and evaluation is presented as an alternative approach to the current prescriptive planning guidelines. This model allows for factors that may influence aesthetic response to façade colour such as individual differences as well as cultural, temporal and contextual factors. Further research may shed light on the extent and impact of these factors and the broader implications for planning policy.

Acknowledgements

This paper is an amalgamated and extended version of two papers, one presented at the EBRA 2004 Conference in Tianjin, China, and another presented at the EDRA 2005 Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The author is grateful for the support and critique provided by Professor Gary T Moore, Kat Martindale and the members of the Environment, Behaviour & Society Research Group at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Sydney.