Aug 28, 2026 – 5.00amThere are few subjects that architects are more uncharacteristically shy about than colour. Buildings may cost hundreds of millions, involve heroic feats of engineering and consume years of professional existence, yet when the moment comes to choose their hue, the safe option most often prevails: some point along the greyscale.Chromatic Architecture: The Craft of Colour in Design, by London designer Adam Nathaniel Furman and American architecture journalist Kate Mazade, is an exuberant argument for dispensing with this timidity.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Stephen ToddDesign editorStephen Todd writes for The Australian Financial Review's weekly Life&Leisure lift out and AFR Magazine.Fetching latest articles