Beyond Beauty

Olivia Passanante

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In many cities around the world, color is used on the exterior of homes for purposes beyond fueling a beautiful aesthetic. Color represents a certain function that can give us a better understanding of what its significance is in a culture. For example, on the Venetian Island of Burano, Italy, the streets are filled solely with brightly colored homes. Historically, when fisherman would go out to sea on a day with inclement weather, the brightness of the city in the distance would help them find their way to shore. Today, there are many governmental restrictions when one decides they want to paint their house. They can only pick from a certain selection of colors that are appropriate for that lot. People walk in and out of buildings everyday, whether they're on their way to work or exploring a foreign city, and noticing the function of the color of a building, let alone the color itself, is something they often overlook. The relationship between color in domestic architecture can draw us closer to understanding the rich history and current character of a city, which is why I would like to engage and inform the viewer about this topic. Travelers, artists, art historians, and even children who are seeking to learn and explore should find this topic to be valuable. Split up into eight different chapters by city, this book takes the reader on a colorful, architectural, and cultural journey with the help of my illustrations, the color palettes, and the accompanying descriptions.