Impacts of colour perception in Kandy with special references to Dalada Veediya and D.S. Senanayaka Veediya

Abstract

Colour plays a significant role in elements in the built fabric, where by it can enable a symbolic relationship between the people who comes in contact with the spaces. Thus colour can stimulate the minds of the people. Hence the effects on the perception of colour are interesting phenomena on the perception ofspatial quality and human response to it, by those who come in contact with the spaces. Nevertheless colour in built fabric can be a unifying thread in urban design where it can resemble the historic features, with a sense oftime, and the evolution ofthe urban forms and street scopes depicting the life style and the activity pattern ofthe people in relationship to the townscapes in cities. A holistic perception of colour can be the determinant factor in the street facades and the deep rooted socio cultural aspects in the evolution of cities. In modern planning of cities it is important to respond to the effects of colour in the design development guidelines and regularizing the planning trends where by the evolution of new building and structures can be done in an orderly passion in harmony with the historicism embedded in the built fabric. This dissertation indents to cany out an in-depth study, of the impacts of the perception of Colour in the city of Kandy, which is geographically located in a plateau surrounded by lush green mountain ridges, in the central hill of Sri Lanka. Where it was the bastion of the last reins, of the Sinhalese Kings, where it is a naturally fortified city which was a necessity to protect from the foreign invasions. Afterwards the city was under colonial rule. The city contains a deep rooted tradition, with the relationship ofthe users. The time period is reflected by the, symbolic relationship between the people and the urban spaces in the city, and the built fabric. The use of different colour shades, with its materials and textures resembling the identity of the subcultures in the region. The intensity of the colour used with the materials and elements stands out amongst the backdrop of the lush green mountain ridges and sky forming a horizon amongst the built fabric. The usage ofNatural, Cool and Warm colours in different blends in the Kandiyan region with varying intensities resembles the deep-rooted tradition and culture creating a sense of place and a scene ofidentity. The inappropriate usage of colour can create a dilemma of style and threaten to dilute the meaning and identity of the place and thus the importance of the appropriate colours in relations to the inferences of the case studies are then dealt upon. Thereby the appropriate usage of colour and thus augur in creating meaningful and aesthetically pleasing urban forms with the built fabric which inevitably will be a catalyzer in creating a sensory perception in cities with a sense of place with a unique identity.