Sonia van de Haar: Colour, Place & The Neuroscience of Better Spaces

In this 1st Episode of the second series of my podcast Moments in Motion, I speak with the fascinating and very humane award winning artist and architectural colour specialist Sonia van de Haar. Over her 22 year career Sonia has taken her background in rural Australia, her studies in fine art and architecture and her passion for using the power of colour to convey a deep meaning of a place and its people and to support, guide, teach and heal anyone who comes into any of the environments she is working with. In our 50 minute conversation, our conversation explores how Sonia van de Haar uses colour as an architectural tool, not just decoration, to shape wellbeing, inclusivity, and a stronger sense of place. As the conversation organically flows, I find out about into Sonia’s early influences, pivotal career turns, and why public spaces are increasingly being designed with neuroscience, community, and context in mind. We also discuss Sonia’s work across public, residential, and selected commercial projects, plus how colour, light materials, the use of transitions are powerful tools to move all of our experiences of a place forward dramatically from the purely aesthetic to something much deeper and more meaningful. To find out more about Sonia's project, teaching and speaking work, or to connect with her and through doing so - to the amazingly complex and magical world of colour, please follow of these links: Linkedin.com/in/sonia-van-de-haar www.lymesmith.com.au @lymesmithy [sonia@lymesmith.com.au](mailto:sonia@lymesmith.com.au) **Timestamps** 00:00 - Sonia’s evolving role in colour-led projects 02:48 - Childhood memories of colour and paint 05:56 - Why professional colour work is about combinations, not favourites 06:41 - Choosing a room colour with almost no natural light 08:13 - Rachel’s purple obsession and the power of natural light 11:56 - Sonia’s background and early path toward architecture 18:46 - Why Sonia admires makers and works best alongside them 20:39 - A pivotal career turn that changed Sonia’s direction 31:51 - Aboriginal place knowledge and what architecture can learn from it 38:25 - Designing for authentic place instead of placing objects on land 40:31 - Retrofitting old buildings for sustainability and community 44:26 - The neuroscience of colour in spatial design 49:08 - Why colour alone is not enough without thoughtful spatial planning 51:23 - Transitions, texture, and the calming effect of variation 54:49 - How public spaces can improve wellbeing and wayfinding 58:31 - The dehumanizing legacy of bad public architecture 62:31 - Colour as a non-invasive wayfinding tool in hospitals 64:29 - What Sonia learned from a major derailment in her studies 70:46 - Curiosity, flow, and designing a career through exploration 77:03 - Why Sonia’s work may become mainstream in the years ahead 78:40 - Closing thanks and where to connect with Sonia