Ornament and Crime

“The evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of daily use” statement argued by Adolf Loos in 1908 was based on his view of ornamental development throughout the century and its necessity, published in the form of ‘Ornament and Crime’.

Ornament is a decoration used on construction for embellishment purposes; it is not there for use, but only for visual pleasure. Although Adolf tells us, in this theory, of how ““Ornament is wasted manpower and therefore wasted health” (Loos, 1910)¹ is true, his first basis on the book relating culture to the removal or ornament, I would have to deny is my belief. I believe that the usage of ornament applied by designers in modern society, is a way to show the freedom of expression that we can portray as a society, which then we can develop from in a cultural aspect.

As a designer we are told to use our culture and ideas to be put towards our models, we are also told to look at other cultures and see how they live to give us more research and more development we can take from these people and their religion to create.

Here is a modern living room taken by a designer, looking at the culture and religion of one’s country and not only changed the designs of objects, yet the form to create a Japan feel to the home.

This shows our constantly evolving culture through the industry of design: evolution of culture and society.

Works Cited:

 ¹ Loos, A. (1910) Ornament and Crime