COLORFUL BUILDINGS
I have always been fascinated with the colorful buildings in the world. These buildings can be found in many major cities in the US. California, Florida, Arizona to name a few. France and Italy are known to have some of the most colorful displays of houses along with Greece, Denmark, Mexico and South Africa. My question was “Why do they paint them these colors?” I was curious, so this is what I came up with.
One reason is because of weather. When climates are hot and humid it was a way to reduce heat absorption from the sun. Another reason was that almost every single town built on the water, regardless of location, was at one point a fishing town. Fishermen painted their houses in bright colors so they could recognize them through the fog coming in from sea.
One of the most interesting things I read was about Tirana, Albania in Southeastern Europe. Edi Rama, who was once the mayor of Tirana, was an artist before he became a politician. One of the first things he did as mayor was paint a grey building bright orange in an oppressed, corrupted and crime ridden city. His idea was to raise the spirit and esteem of the town. He faced resistance on the idea, but proved that when colors came out everywhere, a mood change started transforming. People started to litter less and crime dropped. They started feeling something they had forgotten. This was just the beginning for him. After initially designing some of the drawings himself, Mayor Rama invited many foreign artists, as well as local students and children, to participate in the city’s visual face-lift. Their drawings were reproduced on Tirana’s facades.
My personal favorite buildings to paint are in Burano, Italy. Their color schemes have been held up for decades and all beginning to fade until recent years when the practice was reinstated. Many artists found refuge on this island where life cost nothing and in exchange for money on their artworks, they could eat polenta and fried fish while discussing their art.
Thank you for visiting Sandy’s Studio
