The Function of Ornament (Paperback)

by Farshid Moussavi (Author, Editor), Michael Kubo (Editor) "The Marina City towers create a fluted affect by visually unifying two programs with very different organizations: sloped parking ramps and flat apartment floors..." (more)
Key Phrases: structural grid, floor plates, Louis Vuitton, Silodam Housing, Gordon Bunshaft

Editorial Reviews

Review
A thoroughly and beautifully illustrated book that gives a broad overview of the various affects achieved by mostly contemporary buildings. --Archidose

The impressive array of diagrams are extremely clear and useful... If you are looking for component and systems analysis of projects such as Future Systems' amorphous Selfridges Department Store or Herzog and de Meuron's embossed copper skin at the De Young Museum; look no further. --Death By Architecture

The impressive array of diagrams are extremely clear and useful... If you are looking for component and systems analysis of projects such as Future Systems' amorphous Selfridges Department Store or Herzog and de Meuron's embossed copper skin at the De Young Museum; look no further. --Death By Architecture<br /><br />This book represents a return to architectural research as drawing. If it's a harbinger for 2007, I'm excited to see what else Actar and whoever else dares to draw can come up with. --Archinect -- The Function of Ornament is a primer for the digital age, with Foreign Office Architects Farshid Moussavi demonstrating how the computer is as fine a form generator as any pattern book. --Wallpaper Magazine -- A remarkable array of forms. --Metropolis Magazine<br /><br />Undeniably powerful. -- Architect's Journal -- A compelling study of affect manifest in clearly presented case studies with savy representations of various architectural techniques. --Documents

Product Description
Architecture needs mechanisms that allow it to become connected to culture. It achieves this by continually capturing the forces that shape society as material to work with. Architecture's materiality is therefore a composite one, made up of visible forces (structural, functional, physical) as well as invisible forces (cultural, political, temporal). Architecture progresses through new concepts that connect with these forces, manifesting itself in new aesthetic compositions and affects. Ornament is the by-product of this process, through which architectural material is organized to transmit unique affects. This book is a graphic guide to ornaments in the twentieth century. It unveils the function of ornament as the agent for specific affects, dismantling the idea that ornament is applied to buildings as a discrete or non-essential entity. Each case operates through greater or lesser depth to exploit specific synergies between the exterior and the interior, constructing an internal order between ornament and material. These internal orders produce expressions that are contemporary, yet whose affects are resilient in time.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Actar (February 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8496540502
• ISBN-13: 978-8496540507
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,920 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice presentation of some innovative architectural systems, May 21, 2007

By	Mario Cipresso "deathbyarchitecture.com" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In this graphic guide to building ornamentation in the twentieth century, Moussavi and Kubo have collected an interesting cross-section of architectural projects that demonstrate the mechanisms through which contemporary architecture connects itself to current culture.

Through the selected case study projects, the editors endeavor to illustrate the means through which ornamentation is the very essence of the building. Not being merely 'ornamental' and self-indulgent, the articulation presented is indeed the agent of the architect's ideas.

Various materials and effects are investigated ranging from 'dematerialized light' to 'relief patterns'. The impressive array of diagrams are extremely clear and useful. A typical system is defined through perspective views, sections, pattern diagrams, detailed assembly drawings and relevant notes.

If you are looking for component and systems analysis of projects such as Future Systems' amorphous Selfridges Department Store or Herzog and de Meuron's embossed copper skin at the De Young Museum; look no further.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Elegant, June 8, 2009

By	archiman "archiman" (houston tx usa) - See all my reviews

This is not a technical manual as a couple reviewers seems to wish, nor a survey of ornament in architecture. Nor does it ever claim to be such--reviewers should review a book not wish it was a different book. Instead it represents the results of graduate level research at Harvard Graduate School of Design into a revitalized understanding of the role of ornament in architecture and how one employs technical and material means to produce architecture effects and phenomena. As such the book is extremely clear, useful and elegantly designed and thoughtfully organized. Great for students and professional who want to think.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Function of Ornament, May 4, 2008

By	Elise Mccurley (San Luis Obispo, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

THis book is very helpful for a studio that focus' on facade elements and how to express identity. Has lots of precedent studies and is full of inspiration for designing your own facade systems. It is mostly line drawings with some text where needed. I think it is a very well put together book and I definitely recommend it to any architecture student who is studying facade systems.