171 Assignment 3

"Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed." - The Grammar of Ornament, 1856, Owen Jones

Mini Light Trees
Sourced from; http://www.cgmdirect.com.au

 A key figure in the 19th Century Design reform, Owen Jones believed that ornamentation had to relate to the utility and purpose of the object that it was decorating. With his quote from The Grammar of Ornamentation, "Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed." he is implying that ornamentation on objects and designs should be appropriate to them, through their use and utility, rather than decoration being the sole purpose of the design and having no relation to its use. Inappropriate decoration for function or ornament construction, was part of the design reform theory in the 19th Century along with other "false principles" including; imitation of nature, illusionism and imitation of architecture. "true principles" included; nature as models for ornamentation, appropriate decoration/ornamentation for use and abstraction in representation. The "true principles" evolved around the idea of honest and true design, not representation of something that the object is not. I have chosen both a historical and modern example of "decoration constructed". Both are very similar in the ways they are results of "decoration constructed" as they are both lights, imitating nature. The "mini light trees" and the "flower gas lamp" are examples of decoration that does not relate to the function of the design. The decoration and design of these two lights do not aid or improve the functionality, and are merely for decoration purposes, therefore are examples of "decoration constructed". Not only this, they also have a "false principle" of imitating nature.

Flower Gas Lamp
Sourced from; Week 3 Lecture "Beauty + Utility"

I agree and disagree with this thinking, because I feel that decoration and ornamentation should relate to the function of a design to an extent but particularly in modern and contemporary designs, there is a bit of fun to be had when juxtaposing objects with their functions. An example of this is the "mini light trees" shown above, I think they are playful and exciting in a modern design sense, as well as aesthetically pleasing. This is just my personal opinion however, and does not relate to the beliefs of Owen Jones and the ideas of the design reform in the 19th century.