Colour, material and prototyping for architecture

Starting from the critical reading of an architecture by Michael Graves, the paper proposes an analysis of the intertwined relationships between architectural geometries, colours and tangible models obtained by rapid prototyping systems (laser cutter and some specific materials). The proposal is framed into a wider research project focused on the applicative interconnection between architecture and mathematics through geometry, here intended as a shared and common language. This work is the prosecution of a previous research on models of mathematical surfaces where colour was specifically used as a communication tool to enhance the comprehension of shapes, clarifying that color could guide us to grasp their geometric properties. In this new case, colour acts as a qualifying perceptual element of the architectural shapes.