Chromatic Architecture
The Craft of Colour in Design
RIBA Publishing
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2026
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-915722-78-2 (ISBN)
Description
Colour is one of the most meaningful and expressive elements that can be used in the design of buildings. It is also the most neglected: students are rarely taught about it, and many architects are fearful of it.
Chromatic Architecture explores the beauty of colour. How it is crafted into the fabric of buildings, opening our eyes to the sensuous and delightful world that exists when it is embraced in the making of space.
By featuring intriguing and rich examples of architecture worldwide across time, authors Adam Nathaniel Furman and Kate Mazade demonstrate the vital agency of colour. Through pithy texts and a kaleidoscope of imagery, the book not only demystifi es colour, but communicates its potency as a design tool; how it plays a particularly important role in the embodiment of cultural and material identity, and how it uplifts everyone who come into contact with it. At once a primer, an inspirational reference book and an object of beauty, Chromatic Architecture is essential reading for designers and enthusiasts alike.
Featured projects:
Casa Vicens, Spain
Gellert Baths, Hungary
Guardian Building (Union Trust Building), Michigan, USA
Nissay Theatre, Japan
Shah Mosque, Iran
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple, India
Hoechst Technical Administration Building, Germany.
Chromatic Architecture explores the beauty of colour. How it is crafted into the fabric of buildings, opening our eyes to the sensuous and delightful world that exists when it is embraced in the making of space.
By featuring intriguing and rich examples of architecture worldwide across time, authors Adam Nathaniel Furman and Kate Mazade demonstrate the vital agency of colour. Through pithy texts and a kaleidoscope of imagery, the book not only demystifi es colour, but communicates its potency as a design tool; how it plays a particularly important role in the embodiment of cultural and material identity, and how it uplifts everyone who come into contact with it. At once a primer, an inspirational reference book and an object of beauty, Chromatic Architecture is essential reading for designers and enthusiasts alike.
Featured projects:
Casa Vicens, Spain
Gellert Baths, Hungary
Guardian Building (Union Trust Building), Michigan, USA
Nissay Theatre, Japan
Shah Mosque, Iran
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple, India
Hoechst Technical Administration Building, Germany.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Professional Practice & Development
Dimensions
Height: 250 mm
Width: 210 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
900 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-915722-78-2 (9781915722782)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
approx. 09/2026
RIBA Publishing
€59.49
Not yet available
E-Book
approx. 09/2026
RIBA Publishing
€59.49
Not yet available
Persons
Adam Nathaniel Furman is a London based artist and designer who trained in architecture, and now works in public art, furniture and product design. He co-founded the Saturated Space Research Cluster at London's Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture (2011-2021) on colour in architecture and urbanism with Antoni Malinowski; taught at Central Saint Martins College of Art, London; has work in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Victoria in Southbank, Australia, the National Museum of Norway in Oslo and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, amongst others; was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by RIBA for his contribution to the field of architecture in 2024; and with Joshua Mardell, he co-edited the award-winning 2022 book Queer Spaces, An Atlas of LGBTQIA+ Places & Stories, also for RIBA Publishing.
Kate Mazade is a journalist, author and editor based in Fort Worth, Texas, where she covers architecture, design, arts and culture for national and international publications. Her writing has appeared in Metropolis, Dezeen, Madame Architect,* Architectural Record, *The Architect's Newspaper, AN Interior and American Theatre. She published her first book, Dearest Babe, Letters from a World War II Flight Surgeon, co-authored with Kelly Farris Mazade in 2022, and served as the developmental editor for Designed for Habitat: New Directions for Habitat for Humanity, written by David Hinson and Justin Miller and published by Routledge in 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University, Alabama, and Master of Arts in Arts Journalism from Syracuse University, New York.
Kate Mazade is a journalist, author and editor based in Fort Worth, Texas, where she covers architecture, design, arts and culture for national and international publications. Her writing has appeared in Metropolis, Dezeen, Madame Architect,* Architectural Record, *The Architect's Newspaper, AN Interior and American Theatre. She published her first book, Dearest Babe, Letters from a World War II Flight Surgeon, co-authored with Kelly Farris Mazade in 2022, and served as the developmental editor for Designed for Habitat: New Directions for Habitat for Humanity, written by David Hinson and Justin Miller and published by Routledge in 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Auburn University, Alabama, and Master of Arts in Arts Journalism from Syracuse University, New York.
Content
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
Introduction
Palau de la Musica Catalana
Chonburi Multi-Purpose Building
Shah Mosque
Gellert Baths
Reversible Destiny Lofts
Wat Pho
St Mark's Basilica
Guardian Building
Varna Restaurant
Chapel of the Holy Apostles at the Gimnasio Moderno
Nissay Theatre
Oslo City Hall
Louis Vuitton Ginza Namiki
La Marseillaise
Capela das Almas
Palacio de Aguas Corrientes
Maishima Waste Incinerator Plant
Leganes Central Library and Municipal Archive
Brandhorst Museum
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple
Eastern Columbia Building
Gwozdziec Synagogue
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision
Anne and Charles Duncan Hall, Rice University
De Bijenkorf
Church of San Francisco Acatepec
Croydon Colonnade
Casa Vicens
Dan Friedman's Apartment
Wieskirche
Hoechst Technical Administration Building
Fjordenhus
Seattle Museum of Pop Culture
All Saints Margaret Street
Endnotes
Index
Image Credits
About the Authors
Introduction
Palau de la Musica Catalana
Chonburi Multi-Purpose Building
Shah Mosque
Gellert Baths
Reversible Destiny Lofts
Wat Pho
St Mark's Basilica
Guardian Building
Varna Restaurant
Chapel of the Holy Apostles at the Gimnasio Moderno
Nissay Theatre
Oslo City Hall
Louis Vuitton Ginza Namiki
La Marseillaise
Capela das Almas
Palacio de Aguas Corrientes
Maishima Waste Incinerator Plant
Leganes Central Library and Municipal Archive
Brandhorst Museum
Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple
Eastern Columbia Building
Gwozdziec Synagogue
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision
Anne and Charles Duncan Hall, Rice University
De Bijenkorf
Church of San Francisco Acatepec
Croydon Colonnade
Casa Vicens
Dan Friedman's Apartment
Wieskirche
Hoechst Technical Administration Building
Fjordenhus
Seattle Museum of Pop Culture
All Saints Margaret Street
Endnotes
Index
Image Credits