Is colour actually architecture? Miami panellists say yes — and pick olive green

Olive green is in. So is a dark, moody shade called Black Martini.

That was the word from paint-maker Tony Piloseno at a talk on colour in the contemporary American home, held at the Wynwood showroom in Miami of Arca, the Mexican stone company, with design publication Dezeen Dezeen.

The event took place in Wynwood, a former warehouse district in Miami known for its street art and galleries. It was moderated by Dezeen US editor Ben Dreith. He was joined by interior designers Kati Curtis and Tamara Feldman and by Piloseno, owner of Orlando-based Tonester Paints.

Piloseno knows paint from the mixing bench up. His company’s interior paints are designed by him, and its range includes Black Martini alongside a durable enamel finish, a hard-wearing coating made for cabinets, doors and trim. On stage, his picks were clear: olive greens and Black Martini are current.

Curtis and Feldman pushed the idea further. Colour is not a trendy accent added at the end, they said. They pointed to Luis Barragán, the Mexican modernist architect famed for sunlit walls of pink, orange and blue, as an example of colour doing structural work in a building.

Feldman brought a live project to the table. She is designing a coffee pavilion for the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, the contemporary art museum in the city’s Design District. The small building will combine mirrors with tiles fabricated by Arca from its Umbria stone.

Dezeen summed up the evening under the headline “Is colour actually architecture?” panellists ask at Arca talk in Miami, published on 17 September 2026 Dezeen.

For anyone holding a paint chart this autumn, the message from Miami was simple. Pick with confidence. Paint the trim too.