We publish more student works selected in the preselection in the competition for press reportage on architecture. We invite you to read the text by Sonia Kwiatkowska entitled. "Where did the ornament disappear?".
Sonia Kwiatkowska - studied at the Cracow University of Technology and under the supervision of Professor Stefano Boeri at Politecnico di Milano. She gained professional experience in Polish studios - medusa group and in the design office Kurylowicz & Associates, where she currently works. Listen to Sonya's podcast, in which she talks about her architectural practice in Poland[here].
Where did the ornament disappear to?
During my stay in Gdansk this year, I was asked an interesting question: "Why is the ornament gone?".
The question was provoked by another stop to take a photo of some architectural detail.
There are many ornaments in Gdansk. Despite the fact that the city was destroyed during World War II, most of the monuments have been rebuilt. The architecture of the historic center is varied and comes from different eras - from Gothic to Baroque. Many buildings like the Golden Gate, for example, are of the Mannerist period. Most of them are richly decorated. You can see a marked contrast between them and, usually ascetic in form, modern buildings. In such a setting, the question of what happened to the details is as legitimate as possible.
When I think of virtually any historical era in architecture, I have a detail or ornament characteristic of it before my eyes. Antiquity has its Corinthian, Doric and Ionic heads. Gothic is pure delight in detail and intricate ornamentation. The Renaissance is associated with detail emphasizing horizontal lines enhancing the horizontality of buildings. Baroque is an excess of form over substance, where detail dominates every architectural work created. As a result, this style is painterly exaggerated and theatrical. Classicism returns to the means of expression used in antiquity, using, for example, the antique detail of column capitals. Architecture of the 19th century also uses ornament. Whether we are talking about historicism or Art Nouveau.
And then something unexpected happens - modernism begins and ornament disappears from architecture. There were many reasons for this state of affairs. The 19th century brought major social changes. There was also a rapid development of engineering. New building materials were also introduced, such as steel, which were used to create buildings of previously impossible dimensions and forms. With the onset of modernism began a critique of ornamentation, associated with relics of bygone eras. Architects began to strive to create authentic architecture, unadulterated with plaster or paint.
Austrian architect Adolf Loos also joined the polemic against decorated architecture. In 1913 he published an essay entitled "Ornament and Crime." He argued that the use of ornament was the behavior of primitive peoples, which was incompatible with modern society. He believed that beauty, in modern times, is expressed by the precision of workmanship and the nobility of the materials used. Loos believed that the use of ornaments is combined with a loss of capital. According to him, an ornamented object becomes easy to assign to a particular era or style, which makes it not timeless. Its appearance is tied to fashion, which passes quickly. He stressed that ornament is a waste. It is a waste of a craftsman's time to work on creating functionless ornaments. In his essay, he wrote that the lack of ornamentation makes objects timeless.
Undoubtedly, Loos' ideas were part of his contemporary way of thinking about architecture. The entire modernist movement was based on moving away from form and focusing on the function of designed buildings and objects. The development of technology allowed for mass production, not only of objects, but also of housing. The designed buildings were to be simple in execution. The goal was to produce houses the way one produces utilitarian objects - with the help of production belts. This also meant that newly created architecture could not be ornate.
The aftermath of modernism is, still present today, a move away from ornament in architecture. Ornament is still considered a relic of bygone eras or an unnecessary expense. Buildings are designed that, according to Loos' idea, are beautiful through the nobility of the juxtaposed masses or materials used. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. An example is the design of a residentialand commercial building designed by Attika Architekten. The building is small, seemingly modest. Seen from a distance it does not attract attention. Up close it amazes. This is because ornament plays a major role in this project. Ornament is not just any ornament, as it refers in style to the ancient architectural order. The heads of the pilasters on the facade are decorated with emoticons - a symbol of our times. These symbols have the same function as capitals in the ancient order. Here, however, each column is decorated with a single round smiley face.
Photo credit: Bart van Hoek
Another contemporary use of ornament, albeit in a slightly different edition, can be seen on the facade of Munich's Brandhorst Museum. The museum was designed by the Sauerbruch Hutton office. Here the ornament consists of colorful facade panels covering the exterior walls. The building is part of a museum complex located in the Maxvorstadt district. Functionally, it belongs as much as possible to the surrounding group of museums. However, its mass is an interesting and very distinctive element among the rather subdued buildings of the quarter.
Photo credit: Hanna Połczyńska
If we're already talking about ornament, it's hard not to mention the building designed by BBGK Architects on Sprzeczna Street in Warsaw. There is little ornamentation here, but the design, in the context of ornamentation, is interesting in that it is fully prefabricated. It contradicts the theses propounded by modernists - prefabrication does not necessarily mean that every building is identical. On the wall at the entrance to the building is an ornament of the Warsaw Mermaid by David Ryski. The interior of the entrance hall is decorated with a graphic depicting the panorama of Warsaw, designed by Edgar Baek. The described elements are not very decorative, they are small details. However, they are part of a building that in theory should be devoid of them.
Photo credit: Juliusz Sokolowski
Why is there a lack of ornamentation in contemporary architecture? The above examples prove that the introduction of such a detail is possible and does not make the mass of the building less contemporary. It seems to me that currently the main problem is cost. Even in the design of high-standard buildings, authors prefer to spend time and money on the use of better quality materials than on ornamental designs.
It may also be that modern architecture has not yet developed a language that allows the use of ornaments. Modernism had its own guidelines, principles and theories that made the buildings designed at the time have the shapes they had, not others. Modern architecture is not formalized in a similar way. It also doesn't carry as much content as those created in the past.
The lack of ornamentation is also to blame for the speed at which newly designed buildings are built. To make an ornament, you need a designer who has the time and skills necessary to create an ornament. Unfortunately, time and resources are usually in short supply in today's architecture. Projects are created quickly because they are to be built and sold quickly. Therefore, ornaments in modern architecture appear sporadically. They usually appear in projects that are prestigious. It is in these that architects and the investor have enough time to devise how to distinguish the designed building. Such projects, unfortunately, are not popular. That is why it is so difficult to find examples of contemporary ornamentation.
However, I do not think that the lack of ornaments is a disadvantage. In an era of fast-designed and fast-built architecture, it is better to be surrounded by buildings whose character is expressed in solid form. If ornaments drawn on the knee were added to quick designs, the results could be lamentable.
Sonia KWIATKOWSKA
Alufire was a partner of the competition
