Metabolism

The city that grows like a cell divides

This is one of several color interpretations commonly associated with Metabolism.

Omoro Spectrolab · Color Analysis Sampling Live
PaletteMetabolism
Batch020-AM
Pigments0 / 5 Sampled
MoodThe city that grows li
Drawdown Recordtap a pull to copy hex
Omoro Color Laboratory - Drawdown Record020-AM / 5 PULLS

the city that grows like a cell divides

Sampled Pigment- - - - - -
Awaiting SampleRGB - · - · -
● SENSOR OKHEX COPIED ✓
Export Tray - Digitized SwatchesEMPTY
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On a photo
Metabolism plate1 / 7
Hex Reference
#5C5C5CExposed Steel Frame Conn
#909090Prefabricated Concrete
#B0B8C0Circular Porthole Window
#D0D0D0Light White
#E0E0E0Pale White
Color Psychology

Quietness and restraint carry the palette from Circular Porthole Window outward, with the remaining swatches arranged around that rather than competing with it. Saturation averages 2 percent, so close to grey that Circular Porthole Window reads as a colour accent purely by being the least grey thing present. Light White and Pale White are close enough in hue and lightness that most people will read them as one colour, which makes them a pair to separate rather than two choices to spend.

quietnessrestraintopennessneutralitybalance
Exposed Steel Frame Conn#5C5C5C

Exposed Steel Frame Conn is true neutrality, balance and restraint, a color that recedes so the palette's other choices can carry the emotional weight.

Prefabricated Concrete#909090

Prefabricated Concrete is true neutrality, balance and restraint, a color that recedes so the palette's other choices can carry the emotional weight.

Circular Porthole Window#B0B8C0

Circular Porthole Window functions as quiet breathing room, understated, unobtrusive, built to let other colors do the talking.

Light White#D0D0D0

Light White functions as quiet breathing room, understated, unobtrusive, built to let other colors do the talking.

Pale White#E0E0E0

Pale White functions as quiet breathing room, understated, unobtrusive, built to let other colors do the talking.

The Aesthetic

Buildings imagined as living organisms - Japan's Metabolists designed megastructures that could grow, adapt, and shed parts, with plug-in capsule units clipped onto service cores, a radical post-war vision of the city as biology.

Explore the full Metabolism style guideIts decade on the timeline · 1960s
More Metabolism Interpretations
Nakagin Capsule
Kurokawa's pod hotel: individual living cells plugged into a spine
Expo 70
Osaka World Expo: festival plaza and capsule towers as future city
Sky House
Kiyonori Kikutake: house raised on four walls, rooms as pods
Related Palettes
Brutalist Architecture
Structuralism
Monolithic Architecture
Architectural Futurism
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About This Palette
What colors are in the Metabolism color palette?

5 colors, calibrated to work as one system.

The swatches

  1. Exposed Steel Frame Conn: #5C5C5C
  2. Prefabricated Concrete: #909090
  3. Circular Porthole Window: #B0B8C0
  4. Light White: #D0D0D0
  5. Pale White: #E0E0E0
What mood does the Metabolism color palette convey?

The city that grows like a cell divides

How do I use the Metabolism color palette?

Best applied to

  1. Modular construction, prefab, and infrastructure companies
  2. Tech platforms framing themselves as living, growing systems
  3. Cultural institutions covering Japanese post-war design
What are the hex codes for the Metabolism palette?

Hex codes

  1. #5C5C5C
  2. #909090
  3. #B0B8C0
  4. #D0D0D0
  5. #E0E0E0

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