| Title |
Architectural ornament and structure: a study on the links between contemporary ornamental trends and traditional ornament, focusing on the relation between decoration and tectonics |
| Keywords |
Architectural ornament ; Decoration ; Structure ; History ; Contemporary architecture |
| Abstract |
This research began by considering that, although architecture and architectural culture of the last two decades seem to have rediscovered ornament and some recent studies have reconsidered the ornamental issues of contemporary buildings, there is currently some difficulty in providing a synthetic investigation of this topic, because of the complex nature of the contemporary architectural situation. Following this premise, this research provides some reference points for further studies that will aim to expand the understanding, and attempt to classify and hypothesize the future of contemporary ornamental phenomena. Based on the assumption of the historical continuity of ornamental problems, and adopting the relation - both technical and aesthetic - between ornament and structure as one of the crucial issues to link past and present problems, the study firstly defines two categories and two sub-categories concerning the relation between ornament and structure, namely: a) ornament integral with the structure and b) ornament applied to the structure; a1) ornament visually expressing the structure and a2) ornament not visually expressing the structure. The study then reviews the historical development of ornament from ancient times to the present in the light of the above mentioned categories, and finally discusses the principles of traditional and modern ornament thus analyzed in relation to contemporary ornamental trends, as identified in selected case studies. Some common points between past and contemporary experiences are revealed in order to facilitate further investigations. In particular, the analysis shows a certain trend in contemporary architecture for a strong link between ornamental treatment and the structure of the building and a current tendency among contemporary designers to keep the exterior appearance of the building project separate from the design of the rest of the construction. |