The Nature of Ornament

Rhythm and Metamorphosis in Architecture

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by Kent C. Bloomer

W. W. Norton and Co.

Due/Published October 2000, 240 pages, cloth

ISBN 0393730360

The purpose of ornament -- to articulate a realm of the imaginations -- is as important as it is misunderstood. An outstanding sculptor and ornamenter whose work adorns the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, the National Airport in Washington, D.C., and many other buildings, Kent Bloomer maintains that ornament is neither pure "art" in the contemporary sense of the word nor mere decoration, but rather a category unto itself with its own unique language. Illustrated with the author's evocative line drawings and photographs of ornament from ancient Greece to the modern cityscape, the book is a hymn to the riches of architectural ornament.