Öffentlicher und kostenfreier Vortrag am 28.6.26, 15 Uhr

Öffentlicher und kostenfreier Vortrag in englischer Sprache am Sonntag, 28. Juni 2026, um 15 Uhr im Foyer

Juan Serra Lluch (Universitat Politècnica de València)
Spatial Colour Interactions in Architecture: Albers's Unique Homages to the Square at RIT

When a group of uniform colours interact on a flat surface, they can be interpreted as being material or immaterial finishings, opaque or transparent, and having different spatial positions. These phenomena were experienced in Josef Albers’ artwork, particularly in his Homage to the Square series, with over 2,000 paintings, prints and other works experimenting with colour interactions. At the Rochester Institute of Technology campus, Albers created one of his rare largescale Homage to the Square pieces, titled Growth, comprising two opposing murals in the lobby of the administration hall. After a detailed study of this artwork, and based on archival research and on-site observations, we ca interprete how its geometric composition and colour interactions create material and immaterial effects, making possible different spatial layering interpretations. Albers' paired set, Growth, acts as an abstract trompe l’oeil and successfully demonstrates that colour depth perception is contextual rather than absolute.