Construct · 3 fields · 3 citations

Where does ornament collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

● jingle · one word, three constructs Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
ornament3 CONSTRUCTSArchitectural ornamentLOOS · APPLIED DECORATIONSexual ornamentANDERSSON · SEXUAL ORNAMENTOrnamentRIEGL · ART HISTORY

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1893Ornament1982Sexual ornament1998Architectural ornament
2026

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Architecture and design theory

Applied decoration on a built form

In architecture and design, ornament is decoration applied to a structure or object beyond what its function strictly requires: mouldings, carvings, patterned surfaces. Loos's polemic Ornament and Crime argued that modern culture should strip such decoration away, making ornament a contested term in the history of design. The referent is applied visual decoration on made things, a different construct from a musical figure or a biological trait, though all three share the meaning of non-essential elaboration.[1]

Unit
Non-structural decoration added to a built form or object
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Analysed stylistically and historically by motif, technique, and its relation to structure and function

Evolutionary biology

A costly trait favoured by mate choice

In evolutionary biology, an ornament is an exaggerated, costly trait that lowers an individual's survival yet persists because it is favoured by sexual selection, typically through mate choice. Andersson's 1982 experiment showing that female widowbirds prefer males with artificially lengthened tails is a landmark demonstration that such an ornament is selected by female choice. The referent is a heritable organismal trait shaped by selection, borrowing the word from decoration but naming a wholly biological construct.[2]

Unit
An exaggerated, survival-costly trait maintained by mating advantage
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Tested by manipulating trait size and measuring mating success, and by relating trait expression to condition

Art history

decorative motifs that develop by their own artistic logic over time, not merely by technique or material.

In art history, ornament refers to decorative motifs that develop by their own artistic logic over time, not merely by technique or material. This meaning comes from Riegl (1893) in Stilfragen: Grundlegungen zu einer Geschichte der Ornamentik.[3]

Unit
Recovery means
Measured by

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Nearby collisions

turn2 fields · 2 citationsjingle · one word, two constructsmate1 fields · 1 citationsanchor · a standalone constructtrill2 fields · 2 citationsjingle · one word, two constructs

References

  1. Loos, A. (1998). Ornament and crime: Selected essays (M. Mitchell, Trans.; A. Opel, Ed.). Ariadne Press. (Original essay published 1908) ISBN 9781572410466
  2. Andersson, M. (1982). Female choice selects for extreme tail length in a widowbird. Nature, 299(5886), 818–820. https://doi.org/10.1038/299818a0
  3. Riegl, A. (1893). Stilfragen: Grundlegungen zu einer Geschichte der Ornamentik. R. C. Schmidt & Co.. ISBN 9783882190151

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