“The evolution of
culture is synonymous with the removal of ornament
from objects of daily use.”
Adolf loos (1908,"Ornament and Crime”)
Adolf loos (1908,"Ornament and Crime”)
Adolf Loos opinion on the correlation of civilization of people and de-ornamenting of things is just a reflection of how ‘modernist”, even early modernist in the early 20th century, thought design of utilities ought to evolve rather than a true reflection of how it did happen. It can even be argued that Adolf Loos was speaking from a peak of civilization, during the industrial revolution, yet the objects of daily use was so overly decorated at times that object became impracticable to use (see figure 1), proofing that his statement is rather what he wish design would evolve to.
figure1: 1906 Art Nouveau silver-plated claret jug
(http://www.tarabradford.com/2008/03/the-bliss-of-un.html)
(http://www.tarabradford.com/2008/03/the-bliss-of-un.html)
Which in a sense did start happening from that point forward through modernist philosophy. Objects become less and less decorative and more form orientated from "arts and craft" to 'high modernism" (see figure 2-4). But this were also eventually a pose by post modernist which would culturally be even more evolved than their predecessors, post modern will again embrace eclecticism of the past and embrace ornament for ornament sake (see figure 5)
Figure2: Gustaf Stickley, arts and craft chair
Figure3: Marcel Breuer- Wassily Chair,1925
Figure3: The ant chair by Arne Jacobsen, 1952
Figure4: 9093 Graves Kettle
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