Main entry:

Bloomer, Kent C., 1935-

Title & Author:

The nature of ornament : rhythm and metamorphosis in architecture / Kent Bloomer.

Edition:

First edition

Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton, [2000]
©2000

Description:

240 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-234) and index.
1. The Term Ornament 14 -- 2. Utility 28 -- 3. The Linguistic Nature of Ornament 34 -- 4. Conventionalization 46 -- 5. Rhythm 60 -- 6. Rhythmized Foliation 66 -- 7. Metamorphosis 84 -- 8. Gothic Metamorphosis 92 -- 9. The Rhythmized Body in Architecture 106 -- 10. Appropriation, Reappropriation, and Relocation 124 -- 11. Ornament and Modern Technology 136 -- 12. Ornament and the Modern Plan 172 -- 13. On the Absence of Ornament 204 -- 14. Place and Repose 230.
British Library not licensed to copy 0.
Dust jacket.

Summary:

"An article of culture for thousands of years, ornament is as important as it is misunderstood. Vitruvius, in the first century A.D., regarded ornament as an essential property of architecture; in the fifteenth century Alberti, the father of the architectural profession, devoted four of his ten books on architecture to ornament. In the following centuries, ornament flourished both in theory and practice until, in the nineteenth century, it became an obsession. Yet during the twentieth century, ornament was scorned (Adolf Loos famously called it "crime") and its study all but eliminated from art and architecture curricula. What happened - and must we live with the result? Is ornament dead?" "In The Nature of Ornament, Kent Bloomer investigates this mystery. He offers a synopsis of seminal moments and remarkable features of ornament, analyzes its language and intricate rules of composition, and shows that ornament is a nature-based and universal system of human communication." "Illustrated with the author's evocative line drawings as well as photographs of examples from the ancient world and the modern cityscape, this book celebrates the marvelous accomplishments of ornament and argues for the continued value, vitality, and potential of ornament in architecture today."--BOOK JACKET.

ISBN:

0393730360
9780393730364

Subject:

Bloomer, Kent C., 1935-
Decoration and ornament.
Decoration and ornament, Architectural.
Décoration et ornement.
Décoration et ornement architecturaux.
architectural ornament.
Décoration architecturale.
Architecture.
Architectural decoration and ornament.

Form/genre:

Writings.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 213528
Call No.: NK44.B655.A35 2000
Status: Available