Asian Paints has launched its ColourNext 2026 forecast, a strategic insight report examining cultural, material, and design shifts shaping homes, workplaces, and urban spaces across India and South Asia. Now in its 23rd year, the initiative positions colour as a lens through which broader societal, technological, and environmental changes can be understood, informing architects, designers, and urban planners as cities and communities evolve.
Industry experts note that ColourNext has increasingly moved beyond aesthetic trends to explore the intersection of material innovation, cultural memory, and human behaviour in the built environment. By highlighting emerging patterns across craft, architecture, digital culture, and lifestyle, the forecast offers a framework for design interventions that balance form, function, and sustainability. Senior officials at Asian Paints described the report as a tool to help professionals anticipate how colour and material choices influence perception, wellbeing, and urban experience. The 2026 forecast identifies four principal design directions shaping spaces: IRL, Solarpunk, Pastoral, and Daydream. IRL addresses the desire for tangible, sensory experiences in contrast to highly algorithmic digital interactions, emphasising tactility, connection, and presence. Solarpunk reflects a regenerative approach, merging technology and nature to support sustainable urban and architectural practices. Pastoral draws on heritage, craft, and locality, redefining luxury through cultural depth and lineage. Daydream introduces ephemeral, poetic qualities, layering emotion and light to create reflective, human-centric interiors.
At the core of ColourNext 2026 is the Colour of the Year, Moonlit Silk, a warm neutral that symbolises emotional grounding, calmness, and the human need for presence amid overstimulated urban environments. The accompanying Wallpaper of the Year, Zanskar, invokes high-altitude landscapes and traditional artisanal techniques, signalling a renewed focus on provenance, storytelling, and texture in interior design. Urban planners suggest such trends indicate a shift toward materials and finishes that support resilience, comfort, and climate-adaptive living in dense metropolitan contexts. The launch also introduces the ColourNext Lab, a research platform dedicated to material experimentation, heritage conservation, and exploratory design frameworks. By focusing on slow, hands-on inquiry, the Lab reflects the increasing importance of durability, craft-led innovation, and circularity in urban and interior design decisions. The initiative underscores how corporate research can influence sustainable practices, encourage thoughtful material selection, and reinforce the cultural dimensions of city-making.
ColourNext 2026 is accessible online, providing designers, developers, and urban decision-makers with insights into the evolving interplay of culture, technology, and environment in shaping future-ready spaces.
Asian Paints Launches ColourNext Insights For 2026
