This talk is about building a discourse on ornament in modern and post-modern architecture for Malaysia. In the West, the discourse on ornament in architecture had gone through many thoughtful debates and discussions but in Malaysia the discourse is virtually non-existent. Ornament has been marketed by certain modernist like Adolf Loos as a wasteful aspect of architecture by rejecting the cultural or religious tradition that it came from.Ornament serves a complementary purpose in architectural communication and the creation of space that has meaning and evoke emotion. This talk presents an analysis of the various forms of discourses on ornament in Western traditional, classical, modern and post-modern architecture. It is hoped that Malaysian architects can re-frame the discourse through an appreciation of the issues raised by the 200 year old discussion or ornament and architecture in Europe and America.

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