Colourless by Design

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-535-5_13How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Chromophobia; Minimalism; Cultural Erasure; Semiotics; Urban Homogenization

Abstract

The prevalence of neutral, desaturated aesthetics in urban architecture signifies a more profound relationship influenced by capitalism, standardization, and aesthetic coloniality, rather than mere changes in preferences and trends. This study analyzes shopping malls in Delhi, India, and Toronto, Canada, to investigate the systematic elimination of color, or chromophobia, in contemporary public spaces. This study identifies numerous visual parallels between the two cities, despite their distinct cultural histories, through a semiotic analysis of store displays, signage, and building facades, alongside quantifiable color saturation measurements derived from HEX code extraction. Moreover, 60 individuals from each city engaged in a straightforward emotion mapping task. It demonstrates significant perceptual dissonance: Indian participants exhibit emotional detachment in neutral, standardized shopping mall settings, while Western participants associate vibrant, culturally expressive situations with overstimulation. These findings demonstrate how capitalist design ideals, propagated as “modern” and “universal,” perpetuate aesthetic racism and sensory imperialism. Naming local visual languages as problematic while valorising Western minimalism. The paper argues that the erasure of vibrancy from shopping malls constitutes not merely aesthetic preference but a form of cultural suppression. This leads to undermining of design sovereignty in postcolonial societies. The paper concludes with recommendations for integrating indigenous aesthetic principles, such as rasa theory and Shilpa Shastra. This study advocates for a decolonial reformation of design education and practice to resist visual homogenisation and a reclamation of cultural identity.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Aeti Arora
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/16
TI  - Colourless by Design
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Creativity, Innovation & Design (ICCID 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 147
EP  - 165
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-535-5_13
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-535-5_13
ID  - Arora2026
ER  -