During the 1950s, colour became increasingly important in domestic and professional layouts. One word, matching the spirit of the time, sums up the power bestowed upon colour: atmosphere. In the context of workspaces, the concept referred to that which constituted the employee’s perceptive environment. Colour, considered to be “functional”, thus appeared as a means to create atmospheres facilitating rest, dynamism or physical and psychological comfort. A science of colours developed in specialized reviews and in media destined for management. Its explicit goal was to influence the psychological state of individuals by taking into account their social, and sometimes even “racial”, characteristics. The functional use of colours in workspaces gave the concept of atmosphere a utilitarian orientation, reducing it to a technical operation.