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One of the early entries in this "genre" is Ornament and Crime by Adolf Loos, from 1910. "The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament fro
by keiferski 3y ago
One of the early entries in this "genre" is Ornament and Crime by Adolf Loos, from 1910.
"The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects," Loos proclaimed, thus linking the optimistic sense of the linear and upward progress of cultures with the contemporary vogue for applying evolution to cultural contexts. Loos's work was prompted by regulations he encountered when he designed a building without ornamentation opposite a palace. He eventually conceded to requirements by adding window flower boxes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornament_and_Crime https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornament_and_Crime
- yterdy 3y agoLoos is very interesting in the current context, as he associated ornamentation with savagery, while many contemporary "civilizationists" (take this label with a massive grain of salt) associate modernism with the International style and a supposed erasure of culture in favor of "globalism" (while also couching their negative views of an encroaching other in much the same language as Loos). Ironically, you can read it all as a sort of window dressing for a core of xenophobia, as that's the only thing consistent across the two.