Cultural colourscape: The study of colour as a symbolic element in landscape architecture

This thesis suggests colour plays a critical role in landscape architecture and should be used in more varieties of ways in the discipline. Colour decisions should be made on a rational basis based on the nature of colour and the given context. They should facilitate a clear dialogue with its context. The context should determine the choices of colour application, while colour should have a logical relationship with the environment.; The thesis starts with an exploration of the role of colour in landscape architecture. Some of the fundamental issues associated with colour and the different aspects in the context that can be a determinant in making colour decisions were then examined. Chinese garden design was used as a case study to demonstrate how some of these colour and contextual factors play a role with the colour scheme within a culture. Projects of strong colour content by artists, architects and landscape architects were then surveyed to illustrate the impact of colour in a designed environment and the inter-relationship between colour and context. The thesis concludes with guidelines for making colour decisions that are more sensitive to its context. It is the aim of this thesis to demonstrate that the application of colour in landscape architecture should be seen beyond the realm of intuition, or even a matter of personal taste. Colour design is an art and a science that requires a holistic approach, and careful analysis of the context and an understanding of the nature of colour are important in establishing a rational basis for colour application. Colour should be considered as a design detail that is sensitive to the project's context in order to facilitate a clear dialogue between the landscape and its users.