History in Design Arts Critical Response of Books

Question:-

write critical response of "the ideal book" by William Morris and "ornament and crime" by Adolf loos.

Answer:-

Both William Morris and Adolf Loos were of the opinion that simplicity is the key to an original and strong architecture and design. They believed that ornamentation is unnecessary and it spoils the beauty of simplicity. A key difference between the thought processes of the two was that Morris did not discard decorative designs altogether. Rather, he was of the view that illustrations in any book should reflect the beauty of simplicity. Neither the content nor the presentation should have any complexity.

He discouraged the illustrators from following the formal and complex methods of design by stating that (Moris 2010), “again, a book that must have illustrations, more or less utilitarian, should, I think, have no actual ornament at all, because the ornament and the illustration must almost certainly fight. Still, whatever the subject-matter of the book may be, and however bare it may be of decoration, it can still be a work of art, if the type be good and attention be paid to its general arrangement.”

Loos was of the view that building architecture should be free of any ornaments. He expressed that ornaments damage the functionality of a structure. His words (Loos 2010), “Ornament means wasted labor and therefore wasted health. That was always the case. Today, however, it also means wasted material, and both mean wasted capital. As there is no longer any organic connection between ornament and our culture, ornament is no longer an expression of our culture. The ornament being created now bears no relationship to us, nor to any human being, or to the system governing the world today. It has no potential for development” clearly depict his hatred for meaningless ornamentation. However, he also supported “indigenous” and “historical ornamentation”. 

Both these writings can be classified as having a prominent dominating tone which led fellow designers and architects to adopt the ornament free style of design in modern art but it led to absolutely no aesthetic beauty in architecture. The Moscow Subway is an example of the mix of ornamentation and functionality and hence Loos’s views cannot be supported. The vast influence of these pieces led to the creation of white architectures which were vast and sad to look at. However, it must not be forgotten that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty is about perception. Therefore, the opinions of Morris and Loos cannot be entirely disregarded as erroneous because it’s true that complex book designs are too beautiful and take the attention away from the actual content and too much ornamentation does spoil a piece of art.