Style and Ornamentation

The modern city is characterized by its metal and glass structures that reach into the heavens as a symbol of man’s creative genius. Each city is having its own architectural style that defines it as well as a level of ornamentation that was chosen as aesthetically pleasing to its creators. Yet, how can architectural style be defined in its basic context and how is ornamentation used to personify that style.

Adding on to an object or structure without adding any purpose can be seen as style, but in the frame of architecture style relates more to “a particular manner or technique by which something is done, created, or performed.” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2021a). By this definition architecture creates an aesthetic by which beauty is defined. There is a plethora of architectural styles that range from Neolithic times to contemporary uses of creating an aesthetical form. “An architecture style is a collection of external influences that shape the materiality, method of construction, and form of a building, helping it to be identified and characterized in both historical and design terms” (archisoup, 2021). Some examples of the different styles could be seen in the roman columns or on the gothic figures on Norte Dome. Each period of human history ushers in new tastes and styles that characterize the time in which they were created.

An aspect of architectural style is ornamentation, depending on how much or little ornamentation is used in a style it could influence its aesthetic. The values of certain styles of architecture comes with their ornamentation or “the act of adorning,” said architectural structure (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2021b). Yet, “the manufacture of more and more (decorated) stuff” provides an avenue for decorations to become useless objects (Heathcote, 2015). “This, in essence, is the argument of Marx, Morris, Loos and Veblen. Decoration characterized as a mechanism for capital to produce and sell more useless crap to the masses.” (Heathcote, 2015). The mass production of stylized buildings or structures in a fast form causes tastes or style to shift swiftly. This is characterized by what Edwin Heathcote says in his article “as soon as ornament becomes cheap, elite taste moves on. If decoration is suddenly cheap, then the plainer an object, the more valuable it suddenly becomes.” (Heathcote, 2015). This attest to the early modernist style of architecture that swept through in the early part of the 20th century.

Our perception of beauty is in constant flex and so is the style and ornamentation that is used in architecture. Styles will constantly change based on circumstances of the times, where the style becomes decorative.

References:

archisoup. (2021). Guide to Architectural Styles. Archisoup.Com. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.archisoup.com/architectural-styles

Heathcote, E. (2015, September 3). ‘Ornament is the language through which architecture communicates with a broader public.’ The Architectural Review. https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/ornament/ornament-is-the-language-through-which-architecture-communicates-with-a-broader-public

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2021a). Style. Marriam-Webster.Com. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/style

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (2021b). Ornaments. Marriam-Webster.Com. Retrieved October 18, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ornaments