By Galina Nefedova
Ms. Noury Shakinko devoted her speech at the Facades and Colour in a Modern City conference to the use of colour in cities, including a scientific report on the research in coloristics. It is the central topic of her doctoral thesis — earlier defended in French Bordeaux. She is continuing her investigations in this area, having written two books on the subject, published in France. Conference participants were able to view electronic versions of the editions, whose pages depict the most interesting buildings from around the world — including the National Library in Minsk.
Ms. Noury Shakinko lectures at the Sorbonne Urban and Regional Planning Institute. Many of her students attended the conference, with teachers and scientists also invited to take part. She believes that harmony of colour in architecture is of great significance. She explains that ‘sincere colour-and-music symphonies’ are created, ‘with nuances and shades and definite colour combinations, which constantly change in space and time’. She is an expert in all manner of architectural styles, noting that colour is found everywhere, from ‘chamber Romanesque basilicas to light filled cathedrals in flamboyant Gothic style, from elevated and delicate Renaissance buildings to the triumphant brightness of the pretentious Baroque style, from strict Classicism to picturesque and expressively intriguing Art Nouveau, from prudent and ascetic Functionalism to multi-faceted Modernism, with its unpredictable polychromy’.
Ms. Noury Shakinko’s own artistic works were also on show at the conference.
