Ornament and Function as Products of Unfolding

Ornament arises as part of the design process, when a person is making and seeks to embellish this "something" while making it. It arises as a result of the latent centers in the uncompleted thing requiring still more centers, requiring still more structure, in order to be complete. The ornamental structure most often comes from the material, and from the way a thing is being made. Ornaments in wood, have different form and structure from ornaments in cast concrete, or in shot concrete. Brick patterns create fine structure, as colored patterns on hand-glazed tilework. Ornament is not something which is imposed to finish things off. It is, in itself, of the essence. It is an essential part of the design process, connected to the shaping and geometry of its structural components, introducing centers in a range of scales. Furthermore, the function of a thing, and its ornament, are not two separable features: they are inseparable. When a thing is well made, then this thing is always at once practical and at the same time an ornament.
Areas of focus:
Design and Building Process
Guiding idea:
Structure Preserving Transformations
Thoughts and Arguments Explored and Developed

Ornament as detail emerges directly from the making process
Making lifelike animals and plants in the fabric of buildings
Simplicity of ornamental human figures
The joy of building is that, in a profound sense, I feel the whole building as an ornament –whose rooms, passages, staircases, windows, ceilings, paving, benches lamps, are all extensions of that ornament

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