Standing out is a form of taking responsibility for Softlabs work and ideas. While not rejecting traditions or common ways of putting things together, Softlab aims to build upon the past to create new things that suit the changing environment for their clients. Encouraging the creation of ideas is important. Using bright colors is actually a reaction to the muted colors Softlab has seen used so often in the United States. Founded in 2007 by chance really, and recently winner of the Architectural League Prize, Softlab from New York leaves a lot of room for spontaneity in the projects. Starting with an idea the design process itself is iterative, leaving options for change open. There’s a lot of learning involved and therefore mistakes are made as well.
What do the colors mean for Softlab? Colors are a way to make their work stand out and Softlab started using them as a response to the muted colors used normally. They’ve found that their colorful work got great responses, which are very rewarding, so they continue to use bright primary and secondary colors in their work. Colors are also used to make work more interesting and interactive. Like in the Chromatex project where the public is enticed to look in the installation and notice how it looks different from each vantage point.
