In architecture and decorative art, ornament is decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornaments do not include human figures, and if present they are small compared to the overall scale. Architectural ornament can be carved from stone, wood or precious metals, formed with plaster or clay, or painted or impressed onto a surface as applied ornament; in other applied arts the main material of the object, or a different one such as paint or vitreous enamel may be used.
A wide variety of decorative styles and motifs have been developed for architecture and the applied arts, including pottery, furniture, metalwork. In textiles, wallpaper and other objects where the decoration may be the main justification for its existence, the terms pattern or design are more likely to be used. The vast range of motifs used in ornament draw from geometrical shapes and patterns, plants, and human and animal figures. Across Eurasia and the Mediterranean world there has been a rich and linked tradition of plant-based ornament for over three thousand years; traditional ornament from other parts of the world typically relies more on geometrical and animal motifs. The inspiration for the patterns usually lies in the nature that surrounds the people in the region. Many nomadic tribes in Central Asia had many animalistic motifs before the penetration of Islam in the region.
In a 1941 essay, the architectural historian Sir John Summerson called it "surface modulation". The earliest decoration and ornament often survives from prehistoric cultures in simple markings on pottery, where decoration in other materials (including tattoos) has been lost. Where the potter's wheel was used, the technology made some kinds of decoration very easy; weaving is another technology which also lends itself very easily to decoration or pattern, and to some extent dictates its form.
Cette page est générée automatiquement et peut contenir des informations qui ne sont pas correctes, complètes, à jour ou pertinentes par rapport à votre recherche. Il en va de même pour toutes les autres pages de ce site. Veillez à vérifier les informations auprès des sources officielles de l'EPFL.
The course traces the recurring reemergence of a rational approach in design and building form throughout the history of Western architecture, from the Middle Ages to the late 20th century.
vignette|Villa Medicea di Cerreto Guidi, fragment de sculpture. Palmettes en dessous. vignette|Palmette. vignette|Décor de palmette du pont Demidov à Saint-Pétersbourg. La palmette est un motif d'art décoratif qui, dans son expression la plus caractéristique, ressemble aux feuilles en éventail d'un palmier. Son histoire est très longue, puisqu'elle trouve son origine dans l'Égypte antique et se développe ensuite dans l'art de la plupart des pays d'Eurasie, souvent sous des formes qui ressemblent relativement peu à l'original.
In art and iconography, a motif () is an element of an . The term can be used both of figurative and narrative art, and ornament and geometrical art. A motif may be repeated in a pattern or design, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other works, or may form the main subject, as the Master of Animals motif in ancient art typically does.
The scroll in art is an element of ornament and graphic design featuring spirals and rolling incomplete circle motifs, some of which resemble the edge-on view of a book or document in scroll form, though many types are plant-scrolls, which loosely represent plant forms such as vines, with leaves or flowers attached. Scrollwork is a term for some forms of decoration dominated by spiralling scrolls, today used in popular language for two-dimensional decorative flourishes and arabesques of all kinds, especially those with circular or spiralling shapes.
Explore l'évolution historique de l'architecture, en mettant l'accent sur les liens entre les géographies et l'évolution des attitudes à l'égard des entreprises mondiales et de la durabilité.
"Some day, the traffic of ideas between North Africa and Le Corbusier should form the subject of a separate study". Quote from "Le Corbusier - Elemente einer Synthese" by Stanislaus von Moos. Frauenfeld. Verlag Huber, 1968. Chapter 1 The motivations behind ...
EPFL1993
The architect Antonio Croci was born in Mendrisio on April 7th 1823. In 1837, he applies to the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan where he studied ornament, architecture, aesthetics and perspective. Documents kept in the historical archive in Mendrisio w ...
This thesis study investigates the architectural potential of digital information, using case studies and prototypes to explore the integration of dynamic information in the architectural environment. Responsive architecture, a design field that has arisen ...