Abstract
<p>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. </p>
Highlights
Ornament has been present in the western world throughout recorded time, revealing human desires, activities and beliefs (Abercrombie, 1990; Brolin, 1985; Focillon, 1948; Grombrich, 1979)
This paper examines some of major English lexicons and architectural texts to find the distinctions of two closely related concepts, i.e. ornament and decoration
Results indicated that despite the lack of consensus among theorists regarding this issue, some criteria were suggested in architectural text which could be loosely classified into 7 groups including Reference Source, connection, component, reference mode, necessity, role and field of application
Summary
Ornament has been present in the western world throughout recorded time, revealing human desires, activities and beliefs (Abercrombie, 1990; Brolin, 1985; Focillon, 1948; Grombrich, 1979). During the recent decades in particular, this subject has received an unprecedented attention from scholars which is partly because of the technological advancement took place in the field of building design and construction technologies These achievements has provided a brilliant opportunity for cheaper, faster and high quality production of new generation of ornaments which challenges modernist arguments against such practices (Mitrache, 2012). It may be due to the flux in its characterization, position and associative meanings over the ages and the interchangeable use of closely related words such as ornament, decoration and adornment which offer slightly different meanings Such undisciplined application of the aforementioned terms has been questioned by some scholars (Bloomer, 2006; Carlson-Reddig, 1996; Trilling, 2003) since the second half of 20th century; when the rise of post modernism brought ornament back to the center of attention in the architectural discourses. The results will probably pave the way for restoring ornament position in architecture, by reasonably disapproving modernism arguments against them as secondary, temporary and useless objects
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