Forum’s programme will trace the evolution and impact of colour in architecture, examining its meaning across different scales—from interior details and architectural solutions to its role in urban contexts.

Colour helps to create atmosphere, affects the perception of space, shapes functional zones and emotional wellbeing, and also encodes cultural and symbolic meanings. It does not exist without light, and how light interacts with space and its surfaces can have a significant impact on the perception of colour. When creating an urban environment, colour becomes not only a design issue but also a financial and political one. And yet, although colour is one of the essential characteristics of the physical environment that creates spatial experiences, it is rarely analysed in architectural practice or academia, and the choice of colour is dictated not only by the technologies and fashions of the time but also by the affordable products offered by manufacturers. On the other hand, each person’s eye perceives colour differently, so is it really possible to have a uniform methodological approach to understanding and combining colours? What shapes colour culture and its different practices?

A wide range of experts, including architects, interior and graphic designers, historians, researchers, urban planners, and decision-makers, will explore these and other questions. Speakers include Justinas Dūdėnas, Dr Dalia Klajumienė, Inga Urbonaitė-Vadoklienė, Virginijus Kinčinaitis, Sina Hensel, studio Praktika, and Lauren Davies, Giedrė Datenytė.


Programme


20 November, 7 pm


Justinas Dūdėnas
Architect, doctoral candidate in the arts (architecture)

Over White Coffee with Black Milk. Notes on the Nature of Colour


dr. Dalia Klajumienė
Art historian, expert in Lithuanian art heritage

Tracing the History of Vilnius Interiors Through Colour


Inga Urbonaitė-Vadoklienė
Adviser to the Chief Architect of the City of Vilnius

Colours of Vilnius: Shaping Urban Identity


Virginijus Kinčinaitis
Art critic, photography theorist and practitioner

Somnia Urbana


22 November, 6 pm


Sina Hensel
Visual artist and doctoral researcher in critical colour practices

Spectral Ecologies: Palettes of a Warmer Century

(in English)


Julius Seniūnas
Co-founder of the architecture and design studio Praktika

To Shape Without Form, Speak Without Language, Mark Without Signs, Guide Without Arrows

(in English)


Lauren Davies
Founder of HEKA, sensory artist, designer and strategist

Colour Matters: The Semiotics of Colour in Branding and the Built Environment

(in English)


Giedrė Datenytė
Architect, former partner at WALL studio, lecturer for VAA Interior Design study programme

Colour as a part of the spatial context


The event will take place in the Composers’ House, A. Mickevičiaus g. 29, Vilnius