Ornament In Architecture

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1. Introduction Just like other systems, ornament holds a vast meaning in the architectural dictionary and it was definitely a subject of intense criticism. Through the years ornament became a target for many famous architectural theorists expressing their extreme – most of the times – opinions. While Western civilization was busy discussing about the importance of ornament, the rest humankind was adorning things. Jones Owen in his book The Grammar of Ornament states “Man appears everywhere impressed with the beauties of Nature which surround him, and seeks to imitate to the extent of his power the works of the Creator. […] the highest ambition is still to create, to stamp on this earth the impress of an individual mind.” (Owen, 1982, p.13-14)…show more content…
Most literature written about ornament then had the form of manuals, which aimed to show the appropriate use of it. Therefor, reading this article one can realise that there were orders in the past that architects should follow in order to have uniformity in a town. According to Laugier for the existence of a well-built town the facades of the houses shouldn’t rely on the preference of private persons. The government would determine the style, the permitted building sites, the ornaments and the colours. The idea was that the towns should reflect the nation and attract the people to embrace the greatness of their nation. The ornament was carefully used and only to aim at something useful and not to simply please. (Laugier, 1977) Similar approach on the issue of materiality is obvious on Adolf Loos’s book Pioneer of modern architecture that states, “Former ages did not know the respect for materials that we feel. Thus they did not hesitate to add decoration and did so without pangs of conscience.” (Loos, 1964, p.52) That way Loos explains the extreme use of ornament in the past due to the absence of respect for the

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