Ornament Is Not a Crime: Contemporary Interiors with a Postmodern Twist

by Rebecca L. Gross

Overview

An escape from minimalism celebrating bold color, curves, patterns, and the unconventional in contemporary interiors.

The distinctive visual language, bright colors, and unexpected materials of the '80s postmodernists are making a comeback. After decades of minimalism, midcentury modern, and Scandinavian design, a new wave of architects and designers are experimenting with shape, scale, and symbolic references to add expression and meaning to interior and furniture design.

Playing with the themes of postmodernism, sometimes knowingly, sometimes incidentally, creatives are once again demonstrating that form doesn’t have to follow function, less is not more, and ornament is not a crime. These twenty-one houses from around the world transform the everyday with joyful colors and patterns, the juxtaposition of materials, and the celebration of surfaces. Daring and delightful with a healthy dose of wit and whimsy, Ornament Is Not a Crime is for anyone seeking bold inspiration for their home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781760763961
Publisher:	Thames & Hudson
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	847,880
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Rebecca L. Gross is a design historian who studies the past and present through the lens of architecture and visual culture. With a master of arts in the history of decorative arts and design from the Parsons School of Design in New York, Gross’s folio is academic as well as topical and culturally engaged, documenting popular design spaces and concepts from the past decade. She regularly writes for Australian Architecture Media’s publications, such as Houses, Artichoke, Sanctuary, Green, and Design Anthology, and works closely with designers and architects within the industry.

Editorial Reviews

03/29/2024

Twenty-one examples of home interiors found in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and North America, along with five designer profiles, make up this survey of contemporary postmodern design, which is often more colorful and playful than the dominant modernism. (The book's title is a reference to the catchphrase coined by modernist architect Adolf Loos.) Design historian Gross (Lam Partners: The Many Ways of Light) explains that postmodern design was first seen in the 1960s as a reaction to the minimalist aesthetic and philosophy of modernism that had dominated contemporary design since the 1920s. The height of the maximalist postmodern movement was arguably the 1980s, after which it fell out of favor (often eclipsed by more minimalist design). Today, however, whimsical, exuberant postmodernism projects are once more gaining popularity among designers and their clients. Each case study in the book is 10–12 pages and features a short description of the site, the designer's approach, and plenty of color photographs. The image captions call attention to key design features and highlight the bold, colorful, often patterned, and expressive designs. Profiles of the designers are presented in two-page spreads with a short description and several photographs. A directory of all the designers and a guide to further reading are also included in the book. VERDICT A useful and well-illustrated survey of contemporary practitioners and examples of postmodern design.—Amy Trendler

Library Journal