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Introduction
Andreas Lechner

“I see your true colors. And that’s why I love you.” Cyndi Lauper (1986)


When contemplating the notion of “color” in architecture, do we genuinely wish to perceive its “true colors”? Is not color the ultimate Pandora’s box, divulging far more than superficial aesthetics? Color traverses both the realms of objective truth and subjective taste, engaging profoundly with significant themes. By indexing various values—beauty, femininity, virility, vulgarity, queerness—color exposes the inherent snobbery in discerning these values within architectural contexts, alongside its numerous contradictions. For example, the chromophobic whitewashing accomplished by Western European myths of “purist” universalism starkly contrasts with the vibrant color theory courses at the Bauhaus.

Much like function, color is often presumed to pre-exist design, as if it were an intrinsic attribute
of the product. This assumption fosters the misconception that design is about creating a spatial product, one that is conceptually resolved—such as “black on white”—and adorned with algorithmically determined trend colors. This perspective, however, overlooks two critical aspects: the city and the intricate process from design to completion. Both aspects are challenging to acknowledge within the constraints of modern attention spans and media formats.

The city, like any human living context, is not a product but a pre-existing entity, built with all its past, present, and future “colors.” Despite this, it remains malleable, open to various forms of construction, materials, finishes, and atmospheres, whether familiar or striking, under both natural and artificial lighting. Thus, the “true colors” of architecture reveal that taste, social conventions, and money often serve merely to uphold a status quo—with all its implied snobbery, cronyism, and racism. Therefore, in our communication, we should strive not to gloss over the immense effort, hard work, and endless coordination involved in reconciling conflicting regulations, standards, and briefs—not to mention the tedium of detailed scheduling. By presenting only the edited highlights of our work, we undersell ourselves. Our “true” colors lie in embracing and showcasing the entire journey of architectural creation, recognizing the diverse contributions and challenges involved.

Of course, the central architectural question remains whether “... I am entitled to annoy others with my individuality.” 1 However, as the panorama of this book aims to show, any appropriate answer must take into account a comprehensive view of the full design process. From an existing context, a brief, and a client, through to the built and perpetually evolving project, representing the “true” colors of our field is a task that demands more attention.

  • 1 Hermann Czech, “The Work and Diction of Otto Wagner (1974),” trans. by Michael Loudon, in: a+u Tokyo, 7 (1977): P 66.

Andreas Lechner is an architect and associate professor at TU Graz, and founder of the design and research practice Studio Andreas Lechner. Andreas studied at TU Graz and after formative study stays in Los Angeles, trained as an architect living in Berlin, Tokyo, and Vienna. Following his doctoral dissertation in 2009 he was a visiting researcher at the Università Iuav di Venezia and the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen. He won first prize at Europan 10 and participated in the second Istanbul Design Biennial 2014 and the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. He completed his Habilitation in 2017, and published it as award winning book, whose English version was published as Thinking Design – Blueprint for an Architecture of Typology (Park Books 2021). He is principal investigator in the three-year interdisciplinary research project “Counterintuitive Building Types” funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, co-editor at GAM – Graz Architecture Magazine, a member of the Graz Old Town Expert Committee, and a Visiting Professor at Politecnico di Milano. With Cameron McEwan he is editing a special Issue of The Journal Of Architecture slated for 2026. www.andreaslechner.at

Diskursiv

A forum series that temporarily exposes current and practical architectural fields of tension and then permanently preserves them. This takes place in an analogue environment by means of exhibitions and publications. The focus is on the internal problem areas of architecture, which are to be dealt with in an interdisciplinary framework. Their subsequent presentation is to serve as a starting point for solutions and methodically open up further fields of discussion.


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