The Distinction of Ornament and Decoration in Architecture

Authors

  • Fatemeh Ahani Department of Art and architecture, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
  • Iraj Etessam Department of Art and architecture, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
  • Seyed Gholamreza Islami Department of architecture, University College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/journal.v6i5.1188

Keywords:

Architecture, Criteria, Decoration, Distinction, Ornament.

Abstract

Ornament has been present throughout the recorded history, revealing human's aspirations, reflections and imaginations. Correspondingly, the discussion of ornament has almost uninterruptedly been a major topic for architectural discourses; one which has led to the publication of several significant texts in which ornamental practices has been addressed from a variety of perspectives. An investigation into the key architectural texts however, reveals that the absence of a certain definition of ornament and its functions in architecture as well as the interchangeable use of the terms 'decoration' and ornament as synonyms, have always been a serious obstacle to reach a clear conception of ornament nature . In this regard, the present paper attempted to distinguish between 'ornament' and 'decoration' based on a comparative analysis of the scholars’ accounts and the way the terms were employed in the architectural texts. Results indicated that the aforementioned concepts can be distinguished by means of seven criteria including components, connection, reference source, role, field of application and reference mode. According to the most referred criteria, ornament is an essential part of architecture which creates a firm bonding with its carrier and often fulfills functions more than aesthetic one .It is mostly made up of transformed motifs and evokes natural forces that originate deeply beyond or within the body of building. Decoration on the other hand, is a pleasing arrangement of real things; a suggestion of the decorous which does not have a permanent connection with its carrier. It is also purely representational, due to its reference to external matters such as mythology, religion, history, or cultural practice.  

References

Abercrombie, S. A. (1990). Philosophy of Interior Design. New York: Harper & Row Publishers.

Ahani, F. & Etessam, I. (2016) Directions and Intellectual Bases of Ornament Criticism in Modern Architectural Literature. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 8 (1), 298. Retrieved from http://rupkatha.com/V8/n1/30_Ornament_Criticism.pdf

Alberti, L. B. (1988). On the Art of Building in Ten Books. J. Rykwert, N. Leach & R. Tavernor (Trans.). Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Baltik, D. & Allmer, A. (2016). A Critical Review of Ornament in Contemporary Architectural Theory and Practice. ITUJ Faculty Arch, 13(1): 157-169. DOI: 10.5505/itujfa.2016.73745

Bothireddy, H. (2007). Syntactic and Semantic Role of Ornament in Architecture (Unpublished Master thesis).University of Cincinnati, USA. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 34174537_Syntactic_and_semantic_role_of_ornament_in_architecture_electronic_resource

Bloomer, K. & Jespersen, K. (2002). Ornament as Distinct from Decoration. Retrieved from http://ornament-scholar.blogspot.com/2014/02/ornament-as-distinct-from-decoration_5274.html

Bloomer, k. (2006). A Critical Distinction between Decoration and Ornament. In Abruzzo Emily & Jonathan Solomon (Eds.), Decoration .NY: 306090 INC.

Bloomer, K. (2009). The Nature of Ornament: Rhythm and Metamorphosis in Architecture. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Brandlhuber, J. (1972). Industrie Design und Ornament. Munchen: Akademscher Verlag.

Brolin, B. C. (1976). The Failure of Modern Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.

Carlson-Reddig, K. (1996). detail I, Detail I, Ornament, and decoration: A Taxonomy. Proceeding of 84th ACSA annual meeting: theory and criticism, 285-29.

Decoration [Def. 1]. (n.d.). American Heritage Dictionary. In American Heritage Dictionary. [Online] Available: http:// www.ahdictionary.com.

Farrell, G. (2005). Ornament: Semantics and Tectonics for Contemporary Urban Architecture (Unpublished Master thesis). University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, USA. Retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/pg_10?0::NO:10:P10_ACCESSION_NUM:ucin1115929765

Focillon, H. (1948). The Life of Forms in Art. New York: George Wittenborn Inc.

Gaunt, P. (2005). The Decorative in Twenty Century Art: A Story of Decline and Resurgence (Unpublished Master thesis). University of New South Wales, 2-4. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/ document/d/1XfB0AoNEmBQatH_yVeWKH0yrPsrwh3vOBAXq9ML_OyA/edit

Grabar, O. (1973). The formation of Islamic Art. London and New Heaven: Yale University press.

Gombrich, E.H. (1979). The Sense of Order. New York: Cornell University Press.

Habib, F., Etesam, I., Ghoddusifar, S.H.(2012). Correspondence Analysis: A New Method for Analyzing Qualitative Data in Architecture. Nexus Network Journal, 14(3), 517-538. Doi: 10.1007/s00004-012-0129-1

Harries, K. (1998). The Ethical function of Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Hazari, P. C. and Watkins M. (2006). A New Decoration.In Emily Abruzzo, Jonathan D. Solomon (Eds.), Decoration. NY; 306090 Inc., p.122.

Kahn, L. (2013). Louis Kahn- Silence and Light: The Lecture at ETH Zurich (1969). Alessandro Vassella (Ed.). Zurich: Park Books.

McNicholas, M. T. (2006). The Relevance and Transcendence of Ornament: A New Public high school for the south side of Chicago (Unpublished Master thesis). University of Notre, Indiana. Retrieved from https://curate.nd.edu/show/08612n51k6dPeterson

Mitrache, A. (2012). Ornamental Art and Architectural Decoration. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 51,567-572. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.08.207

Moughtin, C.; Oc, T. & Tiesdell, S. (1999). Urban Design: Ornament and Decoration. Boston: Butterworth.

Moussavi, F. & Kubo, M. (2006). The Function of Ornament. Cambridge: Actar.

Necipoğlu, G. & Payne, A. (2016). Histories of Ornament: From Global to Local. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Ornament [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved from Http://etymonline.com.

Ornament [Def. 2]. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from http:// Merriam-Webster.com.

Ornament [Def. 1]. (n.d.). In The Free Dictionary online. Retrieved from http://thefreedictionary.com.

Ornament [Def. 3]. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica online. Retrieved from http:// www.britannica.com.

Ornament [Def. 1]. (n.d.). In Oxford English Dictionary online. Retrieved from Sep 7, 2017, from http:// www.oed.com.

Palladio, A. (2002). The four Books on Architecture. Robert Tavernor & Richard Schofield (Trans.). Cambridge Massachusetts: MIT Press paperback edition.

Peterson, A. (2016). Ornament theory and design. Yale school of architecture. Retrieved from: http://architecture.yale.edu/people/altair-peterson

Philip, T. (2003). Ornament. The Architectural Review. April, 79. Retrieved from http://www.tomphillips.co.uk/publications/item/5311-the-nature-of-ornament-a-summary-treatise

Pontius, .D. (2003). Ornament as Narrative: A framework for reading ornament in the twenty-first century (Unpublished Master thesis). Washington State University, Washington. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2376/99

Repton, H., and Loudon J. C. (1840). The landscape gardening and landscape architecture. London: Longman, 259.

Saglam, H. (2014). Re-thinking the Concept of “Ornament” in Architectural Design. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 122, 126-133. DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1314

Shriver, S. (2014). A Short History of Ornament and Its Relationship to Narrative Painting. Kitsch and Beauty. California: Lutheran University

Skenswed, E. (2007). Borderlines (Unpublished Master thesis). University of Waterloo, Toronto. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10012/3037

Small, A.M. (2009). Delight: The Function of Ornament: an explanation of its relevance (Unpublished Master thesis). Delft University of technology, Nederland. Retrieved from http://repository.tudelft.nl assets/Delight_the_function_of_ornament_final.pdf

Tamboukou, M. (2016).Gendering the Memory of Work: Women Workers’ Narratives. Abingdon, Oxon, New York: NY Rutledge.

Trilling, J. (2003). Ornament: A Modern Perspective. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press.

Downloads

Published

2017-06-06

Issue

Section

Article

Similar Articles

11-20 of 51

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.