EFFECT OF AREA ON COLOR HARMONY IN INTERIOR SPACES A Ph.D. Dissertation by SEDEN ODABAŞIOĞLU Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara June 2015 To my parents EFFECT OF AREA ON COLOR HARMONY IN INTERIOR SPACES Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by SEDEN ODABAŞIOĞLU In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA June 2015 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. --------------------------------- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nilgün Olguntürk Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Halime Demirkan Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. --------------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Katja Doerschner Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. --------------------------------- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sezin Tanrıöver Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design. --------------------------------- Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Güneş Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences --------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ABSTRACT EFFECT OF AREA ON COLOR HARMONY IN INTERIOR SPACES Odabaşıoğlu, Seden Ph.D., Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nilgün Olguntürk June 2015 The main aim of this study is to examine the effect of area on color harmony in interior spaces. Area in color harmony is the relative amount of different color areas represented as a proportion on which color harmony depends. Colors in the color scheme of an interior space are usually not applied in equal proportions of surface areas and considering the complex relations of colors in interior spaces, it is important to search for the principles of color harmony and area effects in interiors. The secondary aim of the study is to investigate how the term color harmony was defined and the link between color harmony and related terms used to define it. The related terms that are used to define color harmony can explain why a color scheme is evaluated as harmonious. In this study, three primary (red, blue, yellow) and three secondary (green, purple, orange) colors of Itten’s color wheel were studied in a simulated office interior with three-color schemes emphasizing different proportional use of each color. There were four color combinations, each consisting of six images differing in areas of the constituent colors. Firstly, participants evaluated the harmony content of the images by comparing them in pairs. Secondly, they evaluated each image regarding the thirteen terms related to color harmony. Findings indicated that area had an effect on color harmony for two of the color combinations (warm and cool color schemes). However, there were no strong but rather moderate and weak correlations between color harmony and the terms. Keywords: Color Harmony, Three-Color Combinations, Experimental Color Harmony, Interior Space. iii ÖZET İÇ MEKANLARDA ALANIN RENK UYUMU ÜZERİNE ETKİSİ Odabaşıoğlu, Seden Doktora, İç Mimarlık ve Çevre Tasarımı Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Nilgün Olguntürk Haziran 2015 Bu çalışmanın başlıca amacı iç mekanlarda alanın renk uyumu üzerine etkisini incelemektir. Renk uyumunda alan, renk uyumunun bağlı olduğu bir oran olarak temsil edilen, farklı renk alanlarının göreli miktarıdır. Bir iç mekanın renk şemasındaki renkler, genellikle, yüzeylere eşit oranlarda uygulanmamaktadır ve iç mekanlarda renklerin kompleks ilişkileri de göz önünde bulundurulduğunda iç mekanlarda renk uyumu ve alan etkilerinin ilkelerini araştırmak önemlidir. Çalışmanın ikincil amacı ise renk uyumunun nasıl tanımlandığını ve renk uyumu ve onu tanımlamaya ilişkin kullanılan terimler arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmaktır. Renk uyumunu tanımlamaya ilişkin kullanılan terimler, bir renk şemasının neden uyumlu olarak değerlendirildiğini açıklayabilir. Bu çalışmada, Itten’ın renk çemberindeki üç ana (kırmızı, mavi, sarı) ve üç ara (yeşil, mor, turuncu) renk, her rengin farklı oranlarda kullanıldığı üçlü-renk şemalarıyla, modellenmiş bir ofis mekanında incelenmiştir. Dört adet renk kombinasyonu ve her bir kombinasyon için kendisini oluşturan renklerin farklı alanlara uygulandığı altı görüntü bulunmaktadır. Öncelikle, katılımcılar görüntülerdeki renk uyumunu onları çiftler halinde karşılaştırarak değerlendirmişlerdir. İkinci olarak, katılımcılar her bir görüntüyü renk uyumuyla ilgili on üç terime ilişkin olarak değerlendirmişlerdir. Çalışma sonuçlarına göre, iki renk kombinasyonunda (sıcak ve soğuk renk şemaları) renk uyumunda alan etkisi bulunmuştur. Fakat, renk uyumu ve terimler arasında güçlü bir korelasyon yerine orta ve zayıf korelasyonlar bulunmuştur. Anahtar Kelimeler: Renk Uyumu, Üçlü-Renk Kombinasyonları, Deneysel Renk Uyumu, İç Mekan. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nilgün Olguntürk for her invaluable support, guidance and encouragement throughout the preparation of the thesis. I am honored to thank my committee member Prof. Dr. Halime Demirkan for her guidance, advice, encouragement and crucial contribution throughout my graduate education and doctoral studies. I am also grateful to another member of my committee, Assist. Prof. Dr. Katja Doerschner, for her helpful suggestions and valuable comments. I would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sezin Tanrıöver and Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif Güneş for their crucial comments regarding the finalization of the thesis. Besides, I would like to express my appreciation to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Türkün Şahinbaşkan for his help and support during the experiments and I would also thank to Prof. Dr. Ahmet Dirican for his suggestions throughout the statistical analysis of the thesis. I would like to thank TÜBİTAK – BİDEB for the financial support (2211- Yurt İçi Doktora Burs Programı) throughout my doctoral studies. v I also thank to Akan Murat Çimen for the computer program used in the experiments and Paul Williams for proofreading. I am thankful to all faculty members and staff of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design and Marmara University Department of Interior Architecture and also to the students who participated in the experiments. I am grateful to Segah Sak and Begüm Ulusoy for their friendship and moral support. I owe special thanks to İlayda Soyupak for her friendship, patience and help and I am indebted to Ozan Soyupak for his help. I would like to thank Seda Bütün for her friendship and help. I also thank to Refia Anıl Ağrılı, Seylan Öztürk, Ceren Koç and Çağrı Uludüz for their friendship. Additionally, I owe special thanks to my dear friend Can Tunçsan for his invaluable trust and support. I am also grateful to my parents Gülay Odabaşıoğlu and Enis Odabaşıoğlu, and my sister Sinem Odabaşıoğlu for their support and encouragement through all my life. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iii ÖZET........................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... v TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... xi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1 1.1 Aim of the Study ............................................................................................. 3 1.2 General Structure of the Thesis ...................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2: COLOR HARMONY ........................................................................... 6 2.1 Basic Definitions and Concepts of Color ........................................................ 6 2.2 Definition of Color Harmony ........................................................................ 12 2.3 Theories of Color Harmony .......................................................................... 14 2.4 Attributes of Color Harmony ........................................................................ 31 2.5 Color Harmony Research Using Experimental