Debates and Discourses on Ornament in Contemporary Architecture


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Lökçe D.

Journal of Design, Planning and Aesthetics Research, cilt.1, sa.1, ss.40-46, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

This paper neither intends to construct a theoretical framework of the history of ornament nor focuses on its
thresholds. Mainly, it aims to uncover the long-lost meanings of ornament by delving into the origins of the
concept. It discusses the issue of “the function of ornament” today, mainly through The Function of Ornament
(2006), edited by Farshid Moussavi and Michael Kubo. This book distinguishes itself from other current publications
because it is one of the first works to discuss ornament from a new viewpoint by graphically analyzing a variety
of twentieth and twenty-first-century buildings in terms of form, screen, structure, and surface. The book shows
that ornament, as an integral element, is integrated to material, structure, and form, rather than being extrinsic
and additional, which brings us to the etymology and the origins of the term. Thus, this paper explores what is
considered as new in terms of ornament in contemporary architecture by analyzing case studies from the book.