synesthesia

Color as identity investigates how color can articulate disposition — both through its relationship to architectural elements and through its interaction with other colors. The project began with a study of pigment histories, tracing the origins and embedded connotations of specific hues. This research then shifted to Reseda Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley, where I mapped color at multiple scales and cataloged the ways it manifests across the built environment.

Using these pigment studies, I superimposed one categorical reading of color onto images belonging to another, for example, overlaying “deception” onto an image coded as “identity,” resulting in a browned, muted transformation. These experiments proposed new methods for applying color to specific elements and conditions, revealing how color behaves both independently and in response to physical context. This tension, between autonomy and subservience, forms the core of the thesis.

The project argues for the transformative power of something as simple as paint. By establishing a rule‑set that can be applied to any city, color becomes a tool for enhancing space without altering its physical form. Paint is the most accessible means of reshaping perception. Reseda Boulevard, once a vibrant hub of the Valley, has lost much of its character; applying color across its architectural and urban elements offers a necessary revitalization, restoring identity at the scale of the boulevard, the block, the building, and the storefront.

The final deliverable was a film exploring representational strategies for “painting” the boulevard. Elevational and street‑level shots reduced the relationship between façade and street to linework, creating a clear framework for imposing color throughout the film and demonstrating how chromatic intervention could reimagine the corridor.