128 Colors: A Sample Book for Architects, Conservators and Designers

Dealing with color is a complex subject: influenced by standards, fashions, and trends, we derive our ideas and concepts from color theories, intuition, and personal preferences. The color swatches and systems for describing color common today are based on purely quantitative principles and include well over 1,500 colors. So how do we choose a particular color?

More than ten years ago, the color chemist Katrin Trautwein established a pigment factory, starting out from Le Corbusier’s color palette. She now has more than 900 recipes for paint from which she has proposed – based on her work with architects, designers, and historical preservationists – a selection of 128 colors that produce pleasant results on their own and also combine well. Each color is presented with a sample; their potential uses and significance are also discussed.

Katrin Trautwein has lectured throughout the world on how to approach colors, given seminars, given expert opinions, advised architects, taught painters, and worked as a restorer.