THE FUNCTION OF ORNAMENT
Edited by Farshid Moussavi & Michael Kubo
Actar Publishing / Harvard Graduate School of Design
ISBN 84-96540-50-2

If you were hoping for a lengthy discourse unravelling the complexities and myths behind architectural ornament, then this is not the book for you. Filled with startlingly clear diagrams and graphics, this volume has but a single essay on the Function of Ornament, by Iranian architect Farshid Moussavi, founder of the acclaimed British practice, Foreign Office Architects.

The book’s appeal lies in its largely graphical and diagrammatic approach to documenting examples of architectural ornamentation - a return to architectural research as drawing. Editors Moussavi and Kubo consolidate a stimulating spectrum of cross-sections of architectural projects that demonstrate the mechanisms through which architecture today is convergent with current culture. Each project is typically dissected and analysed through a series of sections, diagrams and exploded assembly drawings with brief annotations.

Going beyond glossy magazine image stereotypes that never fail to display anything besides the finished product, The Function of Ornament aims to discuss the construction of buildings and the production of effects as a seamless continuity, as two realms that are interconnected, documenting construction in detail while explaining the motives that led to the specific choice or the resulting effect.

For those of you looking for a components-and-details guide to the de Young Museum’s perforated copper skin or Jun Aoki’s Louis Vuitton stores, look no further.

S$47.50

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