Abstract:
Ornament fulfils more than a decorative purpose in many different ways, by conveying beauty,
meaning, communicating a specific brand, or generating affect. These functions in recent discussions
that deal with ornament beyond its decorative purposes begin to address the connection between the user and architecture in new ways. Moussavi (2006) argues that the transmission of architectural affect
is central to ornaments’ role in connecting the user and architecture. Although rather than evoking the
feeling of happiness Moussavi (2006) believes ornament can produce affects unique to each building,
such as weighted, quilted or spiral affect achieved through construction and materiality. This Master’s
thesis aims to explore how ornament creates a connection between the user and architecture. As
a starting point, three aspects of ornament in architecture; materiality and assembly, composition
and idea and imagery, were chosen to focus the literature research and design exploration. New
technologies continue to change the aesthetic of ornament shifting the way it can be used to connect
the user to the architecture. The first phase of this research is a comparative literature analysis of three aspects of ornament. Research from the first phase informed the second phase of the research, that of
design exploration. Where three pavilions were used to explore three different aspects of ornament;
materiality and assembly, composition and idea and imagery. Although it is difficult to measure the
connection between the ornament and user this research, by focusing on the connection, gives way of
thinking about how we can harness affect to connect the user to design.
