Ecology and colour – the emerging design perspective

Until some time ago it was possible to identify a sort of popular correspondence between ecology and colour. In fact, sustainability of a product could be expressed with the green colour. Many products were characterised by a blend of colours: the memory of the various materials was combined in the new product; for this reason they used to appear varied and personalised, being clearly recycled. In other cases the material, either semifinished or crafted, could exhibit unambiguous signs or symbols related to nature. Among the examples is the laminate whose weave incorporates natural elements in transparency, although this does not grant real sustainability. Our question is whether and how color can still be considered an ecological metaphor, or whether colour is being used in different ways due to changes occurring in the wider issues of sustainability, connected with environmental policy, productive processes, sensorial culture. Ecology is an increasingly complex concept. It can be expressed through various features; since it is free from stereotypes and commonplaces, it can be represented by various colours. Colour is an essential cognitive driver (function), poetic syntax (decoration), historical and cultural subject (communication); we intend to verify whether, in the design perspective, it still proves consistent with its conceptual framework: bio-diversity, decomposability, handicraftness, quality of life, sobriety, smoothness, frailty, mimesis, lightness, edibility, ... technology, expressive freedom, playfulness; within a continuous dialogue with matter, object, space, memory. In such a framework we will address the concept of sustainable sensoriality. Colours can represent a powerful ecological metaphor in some design scenarios.