On Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 2:04 PM, Keith Russell <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I am quite sure that the structural sections that I
> disliked were mostly off the engineeršs draughting board - maybe he didnšt
> select the colour, maybe the architect didnšt select the colour, maybe the
> nearby kindergarten children selected the colour, maybe the dill at the
> paint shop got the mixture wrong - the history of the colour is possible
> worth a TV show.
>
It doesn't take much research to discover the story, not from a TV show,
from a radio show (The US National Public Radio usually a pretty reliable
source).
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/26/135150942/the-golden-gate-bridges-accidental-color
The color came about thanks to Irving Morrow, the Golden Gate's consulting
architect, who noticed the striking reddish-orange primer painted on some
of the steel.
Morrow designed the bridge's lighting and its art-deco styling. He also
championed the unusual color. Most bridges were gray, silver or black. It
was expected that the Golden Gate Bridge would follow suit.
"He had to convince the Department of War, the permitting agency at the
time, that the largest suspension span ever built at the time [should] have
this wild crazy color," says Golden Gate Bridgespokeswoman Mary Currie.
The bridge's construction began in 1933. Two years later, Morrow made the
case for the wild color in the 29-page document, Report on Color and
Lighting, which he presented to the bridge's board of directors.
"The Golden Gate Bridge," Morrow wrote, "is one of the greatest monuments
of all time. Its unprecedented size and scale, along with its grace of form
and independence of conception, all call for unique and unconventional
treatment from every point of view. What has been thus played up in form
should not be let down in color."
The primer would need some added tones, but Morrow felt it was an ideal
complement to the gray fog, the golden and green hills, the blue water and
sky.
Wikipedia has a similar, but slightly different story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge#Aesthetics
The color of the bridge is officially an orange vermillion called
international orange.[50] The color was selected by consulting architect
Irving Morrow[51] because it complements the natural surroundings and
enhances the bridge's visibility in fog. Aesthetics was the foremost reason
why the first design of Joseph Strauss was rejected. Upon re-submission of
his bridge construction plan, he added details, such as lighting, to
outline the bridge's cables and towers.[52] In 1999, it was ranked fifth on
the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of
Architects.
Paintwork
The bridge was originally painted with red lead primer and a lead-based
topcoat, which was touched up as required. In the mid-1960s, a program was
started to improve corrosion protection by stripping the original paint and
repainting the bridge with zinc silicate primer and vinyl topcoats.[53][54]
Since 1990 acrylic topcoats have been used instead for air-quality reasons.
The program was completed in 1995 and it is now maintained by 38 painters
who touch up the paintwork where it becomes seriously corroded.[
Don Norman
Nielsen Norman Group, IDEO Fellow
[log in to unmask] www.jnd.org http://www.core77.com/blog/columns/
Book: "Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded<http://amzn.to/ZOMyys>"
(DOET2).
Course: Udacity On-Line course based on
DOET2<https://www.udacity.com/course/design101>
(free).
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