28 Color Culture and Science Journal Vol. 11 (1) DOI: 10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

'Khrôma' the first software for 

management of the Color and Decoration 

Plan for small historic villages 
Filippo Cherubini

1
, Andrea Casini

1
, Costanza Cucci

1
, Marcello Picollo

1
, Lorenzo Stefani

1
 

1 
Istituto di Fisica applicata Nello Carrara del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFAC-CNR), Via Madonna 

del Piano 10, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino (FI) 

Corresponding author: Filippo Cherubini (f.cherubini@ifac.cnr.it) 

 

 

ABSTRACT 

The 'Khrôma' project is aimed at creating the first software for the management of the Color and Decoration 

Plan that can be applied to small historic villages. As is well known, Italy is made up of many small historic 

villages that are described as "minor historical towns". They have been suffering for decades from a state of 

abandonment. 

The total lack of awareness of the importance of buildings within a wider historical-artistic context has 

generated the development of a methodology that can guide the qualitative and cultural appearances of the 

construction sites: namely, the Color Plan. However, the drafting of the Color Plan always requires 

competent professionals who are able to read and interpret the indications provided by the plan: this is the 

most important critical issue that makes the color plan an ineffective tool in the hands of nonexperts. 

An integral management on a digital platform would enable the application of the color plan for small historic 

villages, and would thus permit improved accessibility to the application of the plan as compared with the 

methodology currently in use. 

The proposed ‘Khrôma’ software has the possibility to customize the functions and the database adjusting 

them to a territorial application on a specific area in question; its features include simple and intuitive 

graphical interface, independent functioning and accessibility that does not depende on any digital device. 

Thanks to ‘Khrôma’ software, it will be possible then to introduce a simplification in any given technical-

bureaucratic procedure that can then be communicated to citizens as information regarding the upgrading 

process to their territory. 

 

KEYWORDS color, plan, digitization, architecture, Khrôma, software 

RECEIVED 19 April 2019; REVISED 05 May 2019; ACCEPTED 24 May 2019 

CITATION: Cherubini, F., Cherubini, A., Cucci, C., Picollo, M., & Stefani, L. (2019). ‘Khrôma’ the first software for 

management of the Color and Decoration Plan for small historic villages. Color Culture and Science Journal, 11(1), 28 –

34. https://doi.org/10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

 

 

 

mailto:f.cherubini@ifac.cnr.it


'Khrôma' the first software for management of the Color and Decoration Plan for small historic villages 

29 Color Culture and Science Journal Vol. 11 (1)  DOI: 10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

1. Introduction 

Italian cities have been in crisis for decades because the 

resident communities have not been able to express the 

real potential that has been recognized for centuries in 

urban areas and that is linked to the value of local 

identity. The ancient cities were required to represent the 

power of those who governed both them and the social 

(and therefore economic) level of the inhabitants: the 

image of a rich, lively and powerful city corresponded to 

high levels of care and exploitation of the urban fabric, 

and the role of cities in extensive areas was declared by 

means of urban quality. 

In the modern cities, this awareness for the collective 

heritage has re-proposed ancient meanings of belonging 

and identity for all citizens, who find in the safeguarding 

of their traditions and in the promotion of their specificities 

an effective response to the banalization processes of 

the global market. For several decades, however, there 

has been a gradual loss of these types of knowledge in 

all parts of Italy and also in many parts of Europe: 

industrial processes have proposed materials and 

techniques that have simplified traditional local 

regulations, thus changing the appearance of buildings, 

which have gradually been stripped of their “skin” and 

consequently made them more commonplace; this 

inevitably leads to the cancellation of the ancient 

language of architecture. It then seems evident that the 

authentic appearance of the complex and varied 

language of architecture will be respected only if the 

original techniques and materials that are still present 

and testified to are re-appropriated. 

The protection of these values was already identified and 

well described in the 1987 Washington Charter [1], which 

complemented the 1964 Venetian "International Charter 

on the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and 

Sites" [2].. Therefore, it is of fundamental importance to 

preserve the authentic aspect of the complex and varied 

language of architecture that is respected only if the 

original techniques and materials, still present and 

witnessed in the historical centers, are reappropriated. 

A "preventive maintenance program" is necessary in 

order to safeguard the entire heritage of knowledge and 

languages and to determine a qualitative outcome for the 

restoration of every single building. 

At present, the complete lack of awareness concerning 

the importance of buildings within a wider historical-

artistic context has generated the development of a 

methodology that can guide the qualitative and cultural 

appearances of the construction sites: namely, the Color 

Plan. The 'Color Plan' recognizes the historic rules of 

"doing" by re-approaching the material culture and a 

respect for traditions and for experiences handed down 

for centuries but abruptly interrupted starting from the 

post-war years in the name of a "modernity" that, from 

this point of view, has only impoverished us in cultural 

and qualitative terms. 

Moreover, as also recommended by UNESCO in its 

guideline, 'the Historic Urban Landscape,' implimented on 

10 November 2011 [3], it is not only a question of 

protecting the intrinsic aspect of a single building or a 

small village / complex of houses but in a more general 

sense preserve that historical / urban aspect that 

characterizes Italian landscape. 

The Color Plan is still the most suitable instrument for 

developing the valorization and promotion policies of 

historical architecture [4]. 

2. The Color Plan 

The drafting of a Color Plan, whether it be for a very 

small village or for a large city, involves levels of 

knowledge of the place, the (overall) buildings and the 

materials that can only be attributed to an expert 

technician. These re-qualification plans develop issues 

that concern the maintenance status of the historic 

center, indicating critical points and unexpressed 

potentials. 

It will thus be necessary and essential to define how a 

Color Plan is drawn up and implemented. In addition to a 

knowledge of the place in historical-artistic and 

architectural terms, the research involved generally 

collects also traditional models of reference in order to 

reconstruct rules for the maintenance of the historical 

urban background. 

These elements can be briefly summarized as follows: 

• an abacus of materials and techniques 

• an abacus of the ornamentation elements 

• an abacus of the elements of urban decoration 

• a color abacus 

• a technical report 

• etc. 

This classification, which may seem reductive, actually 

makes it possible for a room, a space or even a single 

building to be correctly coded. 

If we take into consideration the color plans for the 

smaller historical centers (both those under UNESCO’s 

protection and those that are not), where the number of 

variables is less than that of large urban cities where 

elements of other cultures have always been 

incorporated, it is possible to think up a digital 



'Khrôma' the first software for management of the Color and Decoration Plan for small historic villages 

30 Color Culture and Science Journal Vol. 11 (1)  DOI: 10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

transposition of the Color Plan. The software in question, 

i.e. the subject of this project, is known as 'Kroma'. It is 

important to remember that in Italy the number of small, 

inhabited centers is extremely high (about 6000 villages 

have less than 5000 inhabitants) and these small hamlets 

often are not protected by any specific legislation, 

although the distinguishing characteristics of the builiding 

type and urban specificities to be protected may be 

recognized.  

2.1. The Color Plan: critical issues 

Color plans count on graphic tables, reports and rules, for 

a correct application of these methodologies. These may 

“range” from rough indications to specific ones. 

However, it is obvious that the critical aspects of this 

approach are indeed inherent in this system. 

In fact, the drafting of the Color Plan requires competent 

professionals who are able to read and interpret the 

indications provided by the plan. In addition, the 

application phase of the plan itself requires various 

meetings with the Municipal Administration in order to 

identify and find a point of agreement between the 

'request' of the citizens/ technicians and the 

'requirements' of the indications indicated in the plan. 

One of the most important critical issues of the Color Plan 

is based on this last step. This 'necessary' step with the 

Local Administration often slows down the procedures, 

and at times discourages citizens from participating in an 

improvement to the place in which they live. 

3 Objectives of the Khrôma software 

The mission of the 'Khrôma' project is to make the 

application of the Color Plan accessible to non-experts as 

well as professionals (in a first moment exclusively for the 

smaller historical centers, where the number of variables 

is lower). 

By digitally fixing the constraints indicated by the Color 

Plan, the goal is to enable accessibility to this plan by 

maintaining an active participation of the citizens 

involved. Thus, even in the absence of qualified experts, 

individual citizens could become active participants in the 

redevelopment process, by going to operate 

independently but at the same time guided, on a digital 

platform. 

4. Description of the project 

Managing the final results of the analyses of the graphic 

tables, of the relationship between the Color Plan, of the 

abacus of the elements and of the colors, is often quite 

difficult for those who are not qualified experts. 

The 'Khrôma' project aims to achieve the 'participation' 

objective through a flexible, but controlled, interaction 

between the citizens and the program itself. In any case, 

the software needs an existing Color Plan that can 

indicate the general or specific constraints on the territory 

and the types of architecture submitted to analysis. This 

is necessary because the indications regarding colors, 

façades, type of materials, the various abacuses of the 

elements, and the decorative elements need to be 

previously analyzed and selected by the experts. 

Therefore, it would be necessary to interpolate these 

elements, link them together, and then transfer them to a 

digital platform. 

The goal is to design a ‘digital’ container (not content) 

that would incorporate the analytic which can and must 

pertain only to a professional in charge of drawing up the 

color plan; it is the task of the professional to dictate 

criteria and rules with relative variations that the plan 

imposes and the program accepts.  

The program is structured within three macro areas. 

The first macro area is characterized by the identification 

and collection of data, by means of the compilation of a 

questionnaire, of the citizen / professional worker / 

company who assumes responsibility for the entire work 

process (fig. 1). The process takes place by means of 

digital procedures that by now already exist in most of the 

so-called digital administrations (digital signature, etc.). 

The second phase, the most important one, consists of 

identifying the building that is the object of the 

construction works, and of loading the graphic interface 

by means of which the user can manage the guided 

design process (fig. 2).  

At a subsequent stage, however, it would be necessary 

to develop a rigorous integration with the GIS software, 

which already contains the most common operations 

related to geographical analysis, including a direct 

connection to the Khroma software. This would allow the 

gathering of all data concerning the Color Plans loaded 

on the platform and would provide the graphic interface 

necessary for the users’ participation in the 

redevelopment process. 

Some examples of interaction between GIS and color 

plans aleady exist (particularly interesting is the project 

for the municipality of Priverno in Lazio [11]) but none of 

the programs include a study concerning the interaction 

with users by means of a graphical interface such as the 

Khroma.  



'Khrôma' the first software for management of the Color and Decoration Plan for small historic villages 

31 Color Culture and Science Journal Vol. 11 (1)  DOI: 10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

 

Fig. 1. First screenshot 'Khrôma' the first software: data collection and responsibility assumption.  

 

Fig. 2. Preload of graphic interface with iron wire visualization and selection of elements to be modified.  



'Khrôma' the first software for management of the Color and Decoration Plan for small historic villages 

32 Color Culture and Science Journal Vol. 11 (1)  DOI: 10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

 

Fig. 3. Preloading elements of the Color Plan. 

 

Fig. 4. Facade unit diagram and related technical report. 

 



'Khrôma' the first software for management of the Color and Decoration Plan for small historic villages 

33 Color Culture and Science Journal Vol. 11 (1)  DOI: 10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

Once the building has been identified, the program 

automatically uploads a schematic diagram of the façade 

so the user can immediately receive graphic 

correspondence on a screen. 

The following step provides the possibility of selecting 

only the elements that need to be modified in such a way 

that the program can automatically preload all possible 

permitted variants (colors, decorations, etc.) only for that 

façade. It is also possible, by means of the drag and drop  

system, to choose from among this series of elements, 

thus providing the user with a guided procedure that is 

already pre-authorized by the Local Administration (fig. 2 

and fig. 3).  The third and last step makes it possible to 

summaries data by printing a diagram of the façade and 

the design indications to be followed during the execution 

phase (fig. 4). The printing of the final report is very 

important, because it contains all the technical data 

necessary for performing a perfect job. The color codes 

and the relative coding system, materials and application 

techniques, any attentions to be taken into account 

during the work phases, etc., will be indicated in the said 

report. The main idea is, in fact, to provide a complete 

package with which, by printing both the façade color 

scheme and the technical report, the user can provide 

any operational-type company with all the details 

necessary for carrying out the work. 

It seems evident that more than the color printing of the 

facade, which serves merely as an example, it is the 

technical relationship that is of fundamental importance. It 

entails all the details that range from the colorimetric 

indications to materials to be used in the intervention to 

those that guide how the work should correctly be 

realized. It is worth remembering that the program would 

be implemented in small villages with mostly significant 

technical-administrative inadequacies.  

Moreover, since these small villages are not directly 

under the protection of specific regulations, unlike, for 

instance, the historic center of Florence safeguarded by 

UNESCO, they risk losing their distinctive features due to 

bureaucratic inertia. 

It then becomes the task of the professionals in charge of 

specific projects, together with the Municipal 

Administration, to control that the work performed 

corresponds to the requirements indicated in the 

technical plan. 

Moreover, the software application has the following 

characteristics: 

• the possibility of customizing the functions and the 

database based on the territorial application area in 

question (the possibility of introducing any element of an 

abacus, color, single elevations and multiple façade 

units, etc.) 

• independent functioning (cloud software available 24/7) 

• accessibility from any digital device 

• simple and intuitive graphical interface 

5. Conclusions 

The 'Khrôma' project is aimed at creating the first 

software for management of the Color and Decoration 

Plan, i.e. one that can be applied to all small historic 

villages. As we have seen, starting from an analysis of 

the territory, it has been verified that the smaller historic 

villages have common characteristics that depend on the 

location of the place (for purposes of colors, abacus, 

materials, etc.). These characteristics, which are easily 

identifiable and classifiable only for these particular types 

of small towns, would enable an integral management on 

a digital platform and thus permit improved accessibility 

to the application of the plan as compared with the 

methodology currently in use. 

Thanks to this software, it will be possible to introduce a 

simplification in a given technical-bureaucratic procedure 

that can then be communicated to citizens as information 

regarding the upgrading process to their territory.  

6. Conflict of interest declaration  

All authors declare that they do not have any conflict of 

interest realated to this paper. 

7. Funding source declaration 

All authors declare that they have no grant was received 

related to the activity published in this paper. 

8. Short biography of the author(s) 

Filippo Cherubini - is a technician at the “Nello Carrara” 

Institute of Applied Physics, National Research Council, 

Italy. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in 

Architecture and two postgraduate course at the 

University of Florence. His interests include 

environmental restoration and architectural color studies. 

Andrea Casini - MSc in Physics in 1968, has been a 

researcher at IFAC-CNR from 1972 to 2010. Expert in 

signal and image processing, for many years he has 

been developing imaging spectroscopic methodologies 

for the study of works of art in the "Integrated 

spectroscopic methods for the diagnostics and monitoring 

of cultural and environmental heritage" project, with 

which he continues to collaborate as associate 

researcher.  

Costanza Cucci
 
- got her Physics “Laurea” and Ph.D. in 

Conservation Science at the Florence University. 



'Khrôma' the first software for management of the Color and Decoration Plan for small historic villages 

34 Color Culture and Science Journal Vol. 11 (1)  DOI: 10.23738/CCSJ.110103 

Currently she is a researcher at IFAC-CNR. Her research 

focus is on spectroscopic techniques and data-

processing algorithms applied to the fields of cultural 

heritage, environmental monitoring, and safety food 

controls. 

Marcello Picollo
 
- Ph.D., is a researcher at IFAC-CNR. 

His interests include color measurement, Vis-NIR 

Hyperspectral Imaging, and spot size UV-Vis-IR 

spectroscopic investigations of 2D polychrome objects. 

Lorenzo Stefani
 
- is a technician in telecommunications 

at IFAC-CNR. He is in charge of the development of 

hardware and software for computer-controlled 

instrumentation for the non-invasive and in situ study of 

artworks. 

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