Synthesized Ornament and the Emerging Role of Minimalist Decoration

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Is ornament seeing a resurgence in architectural design? Writing for The Financial Times, Edwin Heathcote examines the rising phenomenon of decoration as a growing element of contemporary architectural design. Describing FAT and Grayson Perry's recently completed 'kitsch' abode 'A House for Essex' Heathcote justifies the assimilation of decoration into the central design philosophy, thus creating an entirely new aesthetic category. "The building sits somewhere between outsider art, high culture and the most sophisticated postmodernism," Heathcote explains, adding that its decoration "is not just applied as a layer but subsumed into the architecture."

Citing Mecanoo's Library of Birmingham, Farshid Moussavi's John Lewis retail space in Leicester, and Caruso St. John's Nottingham Contemporary gallery, he notes that although there is a trend towards a "veneer of ornament" in the United Kingdom it requires further reflection in order to develop true architectural value.

You can read his article in full, here.