The emergence of the environmental color design praxis framework

Abstract

AbstractOver the last four decades, development in the environmental color design field challenged the prevailing designer's attitude towards selecting architectural and urban color palettes. Examining praxiological issues in environmental color design is necessary to reveal influential conditions that can facilitate or obstruct a shift in the design paradigm. This research article presents a qualitative study of environmental color design praxis (ECDP) in urban contexts. The study sought to understand how designers constructed their perspectives on contemporary ECDP, how these perspectives influenced their design approaches and the conditions under which designers can change their attitude and practices in environmental color design. The conceptual model of ECDP emerged from the grounded theory analysis of the interviews with Brisbane designers and the interpretation of relevant texts written by prominent designers and scholars. This article describes the core components of the ECDP model and provides interpretations of how educational, pragmatic and socio‐psychological factors influence dynamic changes in ECDP. The underlying research concludes that a holistic understanding of ECDP can inform the advanced and socially responsive environmental color design paradigm; the ECDP model provides a frame of reference for developing color design praxis theory.