ABSTRACT
More than 100 years ago, the use of ornaments in architecture was described as a crime. In recent years, ornaments have become ecological devices that share to support the entire performance of the buildings amongst their built context. Between the two judgements of ornaments as being a crime or a function, and between the two states of rejection or reinvention, this paper aims to investigate the validity of the recent claim and trace the reasons for this shift, through an analytical study of a number of contemporary ornamental buildings in which the use of the ornament’s characteristic is emerging. The paper’s methodology consists of two sections: the first deals with a literature review of the discussions and different judgements of ornamentation in architecture from antiquity to contemporary, and the second deals with an analysis of 35 contemporary ornamented buildings in the last decade (of the years 2006 to 2016). The study concludes that the ornament is a translator and a bridge that connects the building to the environment and connects people with history and culture; thus, ornamentation is an instrument for the local identity of the building, the environment, and the entire urban context within the frame of sustainability.
