Page 109 - ELEMENTS EUROPA (EN)

ELEMENTS EUROPA FRONT SCENE AND BEHIND THE SCENE 105

structures invisible. The very tint of the material is the first priority; almost all
materials being manufactured products derived from synthesis pathways, it
is impossible to talk about a “natural colour” obviously: the only exceptions
being oak window frames and installed wooden floors, provided if we
disregard saturators and wood stains. Philippe Samyn himself wrote:

Architecture is space as defined by volumes and their walls. Space
aims at having long-term existence and the architect deliberately limits
himself to define the geometry of walls and its component materials.
When walls are painted, it must be neutral (between pure white and
pure black). Indeed, the colour applied over the walls alters space
perception. When a layer of paint is applied over it, it acts upon the
people inside and changes the perception the latter have of space:
i.e. the artist’s work. The “message” of colours adds up to and modifies
the one given by space. Here, most large surfaces with no “natural”
colours (e.g. wooden floors and glass surfaces) are coated with the
flat tints Georges Meurant uses to cause his “figural induction”: sound-
absorbing tinted felt ceilings, tinted wool carpets, printed laminated
door coatings and printed PVC panels (glass cabins) for lift shafts.
Each layer requires specific materials adapted to their function.

From a technical point of view, the architectural treatment of colours
suggests complex adaptations to functions, support types and sometimes
extremely demanding conditions of the implementation.