Material matters Vol.5: Colour

With great success, the architectural event “Material Matters Vol. 5: Colour” was concluded on May 27 at the atrium of the Benaki Museum on Pireos Street. The event was organized by ek magazine under the auspices of the Hellenic Institute of Architecture. In the packed atrium, speakers from the fields of architecture and design highlighted the importance of colour in architectural design through thematic presentations that showcased different aspects of this fascinating compositional element.

A brief welcome address to the audience was delivered on behalf of the Platinum Sponsor by Mr. Athanasios Tsoumalakos, General Manager of Eastern Europe, President and CEO of Ideal Standard Hellas, followed by a speech from the representative of the Gold Sponsor, Mr. Spyros Katopodis, Commercial Director of Elval Colour.

The first speaker of the event was Marika Mavroleon from A&M Architects, who presented, through completed examples from both her firm and other architects, the psychological significance of colour in design. She was followed by Katerina Apostolou of AKA Apostolou Colakis Architects, who spoke about the geometry of colour. Petros Tavaniotis of Betaplan explored various colour applications in buildings within the health and welfare sector, while Katerina Kourkoula and Hannes Livers Gutberlet discussed the use of colour in selected projects of theirs. Minos Digenis of Minos Digenis Arquitectos analyzed how colour contributes to the creation of experiences, ranging from architectural to urban design scale. Yiannis Karachalios of Plaini and Karachalios Architects explained the rules of applying colour in his firm’s projects, followed by Miltos Kontogiannis of Studiomateriality, who discussed the importance of architectural colour from a branding and communication perspective. Maria Tsavtari of Urban Soul Project revisited recent buildings and interior designs by the firm, while Vana Krimnioti presented a series of journal-style notes on architecture and space, centered around colours and their multiple connotations. The event concluded with a presentation by the guest of honour, Dimitris Antonakakis, who, through carefully selected projects, showcased highly compelling aspects of the research on colour in architecture conducted by Laboratory 66, offering a valuable lesson to all those who attended.

The curation of the event was undertaken by Ariadni Vozani, Editor-in-Chief of ek magazine and Professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), while the moderation was handled by Stavros Martinos, architect and member of the magazine’s Editorial Team.