A comparative study on thematic building color usages based on digital image analysis

Abstract

The notion of glocalization has become widely spread in various fields, and accordingly, it is increasingly more important to take account of indigenous cultural characteristics in each field. An aspect of achieving glocalization, globalization with local consideration, is to consider the difference of color usages and environmental atmosphere between distinct cultures. This study aims to find cultural and locational differences with the color usages under the condition of equivalent Disney themes but different cultural circumstances―eastern (Tokyo Disneyland) and western (Disneyland Paris), and identify whether if there is a relationship between the used colors and the local urban environment. This study suggests an approach to investigate the color differences between eastern and western cultures with the case analysis of building facade colors in Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. To do this, digital image based k-means clustering algorithm, CIELAB color space and Natural Color System (NCS) was used to explore color characteristics. Accordingly, Tokyo and Paris urban color usage characteristics were analyzed to investigate cultural connections. This study found out that there is a difference with the color usages between eastern and western located theme parks and in addition, there is a connection between the colors used in local theme parks and the local surrounding environment in terms of color hue and nuance. Disneyland Paris used relatively calm and deep colors while Tokyo Disneyland used relatively active and bright colors for their attractions. In the same vein, environmental colors of the urbanscape also appeared similar features and color usage characteristics. Whether it is intended or not, both of the theme parks considerably showed correspondence with the overall urban environmental color usages. The major motivation of this paper was to reflect the atmosphere and the mood of the space that can be easily felt but not readily expressible into a cultural color palette. By finding the color differences, this study suggest a strategy for designers to consider local colors from environmental clues when designing themed environments to adapt into their themed environment design.