The designer's obsession with understatement produces a dullness which is not relieved, but merely disturbed by linear, stippled and striped motifs on the fabrics. Figure-and-ground relations are violated by the clashing motifs. A migraine-inducing restlessness pervades these sleeping quarters.
The marble wall covering the western side of the entrance to the Australian National Gallery demonstrates the meaningful use of subtlety in design. As in the Hing nightmare above, there is little of the bold or the colourful in this interior treatment. However, the variegated colours of the marble are inherent to the mineral's structure, and the natural richness of this material obliterates any hint of the mean. The marble sheets are translucent and so their colour changes depending on the amount and type of natural light that falls on them. They cannot be monotonous. The sheets are not subjected to competition from other pronounced monochrome patterns in the entrance space. Finally, the positioning of the marble wall is functionally convergent: it protects the interior thermally and serenely diffuses the light from harsh western sun found at Canberra's altitude.
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