Financed by cultural funds from the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, the project “Los Ríos in Colors”, led by Elisa Cordero, will present results as of December 2023.

With more than 60 rivers, 11 lakes, different types of vegetation and soils, the chromatic atmosphere of this southern austral territory changes constantly throughout the year and even during the day. It is precisely these changes that the project of Elisa Cordero Jahr, an academic at the School of Design of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of the Universidad Austral de Chile, takes charge and seeks to register them.

To create a chromatic chart with the Los Ríos Region’s own identity is the goal of the Los Ríos in Colors project, which is financed by the National Culture Funds, in the line of Artistic Creation, Design modality, of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, and which is directed by Cordero.

The designer specialized in color and Master in Knowledge Modeling for Educational Virtual Environments says that the project was born in a sleepless night on a bus trip from Santiago to Valdivia: “I daydreamed about this project, I imagined it down to its smallest details, and once at home I started writing”. She adds that “I wanted to investigate color in our region, but I couldn’t decide if it would be in an urban or natural context,” but after a sleepless night, the designer and academic decided to study the color of nature.

The work of recording and creating the chromatic chart will be carried out over a period of one year. It involves multiple field trips to measure and collect samples, but also includes work in the color laboratory, where measurements are taken with a colorimeter, then the samples are catalogued, detailing the place of collection (GPS location) and date. In addition, information such as height above sea level, context (forest, soil type, etc.), among others, is incorporated.

“In December, when we have enough colors, we will put together the color palettes, which are combinations of four or five colors that can be used in design projects, handicrafts, architecture, goldsmithing, etc. We will also make an exhibition with all the material collected, photographs of the process, videos and a large color map that will show the places where we got each of the samples. We will finish with dissemination workshops in different communes of the region”, says the academic of the School of Design.

“In December, when we have enough colors, we will put together the color palettes, which are combinations of four or five colors that can be used in design projects, handicrafts, architecture, goldsmithing, etc. We will also make an exhibition with all the material collected, photographs of the process, videos and a large color map that will show the places where we got each of the samples. We will finish with dissemination workshops in different communes of the region”, says the academic of the School of Design.

The project team has created profiles on digital social networks (Instagram, Facebook and TikTok) to communicate the progress and activities being carried out, where you can find information and follow all field trips and news related to the Los Ríos in color initiative.