Social monogamy, closely associated with bi-parental care, is the most frequent pairing system found in birds. Because females invest more into the reproduction, they are usually considered to be the sex that chooses the partner. To satisfy female preferences in the mate choice males in various species developed a number of traits that signalize their quality. What qualities are signaled by these traits and what mechanisms are responsible for the emergence, development and maintenance of these traits is the subject of a number of evolutionary- ecological studies. By pairing with an appropriate male female can obtain direct or indirect benefits to its own fitness. The good parent theory suggests that male secondary sexual traits signalize male ability to provide parental care (a direct benefit). An indirect benefit is presented by the quality of the genetic material that the female obtains from male for her offspring. According to the good genes hypothesis females use secondary male ornamentation to assess genetic quality of males. One of the most studied secondary sexual ornaments that can advertise male quality and may be used in mate choice by females is the plumage colouration. In many avian species there is sexual dimorphism in the plumage colouration and there is also growing evidence that...

A tese investiga o conceito de Ornamento no arquiteto e teórico Gottfried Semper (1803-1879), quem elabora, em meados do século XIX, importante teorização deste elemento arquitetônico. Destina-se a demonstrar que, em meio a um processo de depreciação semântica vigente na época, Semper procura restabelecer o status quo do Ornamento, consagrando a ele uma importância fundamental para os indivíduos e suas instituições sociais. Os vínculos tradicionais entre Ornamento e noções clássicas como Estilo e ordem são reforçados e atualizados pelo autor, considerando o contexto da época. Para este estudo, a investigação considerou dois momentos. Primeiramente, adotou-se um recuo temporal, trabalhado na longa duração, com o intuito de se apresentar um quadro sintético de noções e conceitos interdependentes que estruturaram o conceito de Ornamento na Tradição Clássica. Aqui a escrita foi organizada a partir da observação atenta às transformações dos sentidos atribuídos ao termo, aos conceitos que giraram em torno dele e o constituíram como um componente imprescindível do que se compreende por Arquitetura na Tradição. Em um segundo momento analisou-se o conceito de Ornamento em Semper em meio ao contexto europeu de meados dos oitocentos, tendo em vista o enfraquecimento da legitimidade da Tradição Clássica e as implicações resultantes do desenvolvimento da indústria moderna. Considera-se que os escritos deste autor, na medida em que procuram atualizar o conceito de Ornamento, evidenciam parte do contexto de crise da ornamentação em Arquitetura, que, diferentemente do que costuma colocar a historiografia tradicional, iniciou-se bem antes da aurora do moderno. O Ornamento em Semper deve ser compreendido como um conceito que opera dentro da disciplina Arquitetura e que faz parte dos esforços do autor em reorganizá-la em meados do século XIX. / This thesis investigates the concept of Ornament in the writings of the architect and theorist Gottfried Semper (1803-1879), who put forth an important theory about this architectural element in the middle of the nineteenth century. It aims to show that Semper tried to restore the status quo of the Ornament in the midst of semantic devaluation, thereby granting the Ornament essential prominence in social institutions and to individuals. This thesis also shows that the author reinforces and updates traditional connections between the Ornament and classical notions, such as Style and Order. In order to accomplish the above, this study considered two moments. Firstly, the concept of Ornament in Classical Tradition was presented using temporal regression in a long duration structure; the writing about this moment is organized according to transformations in the meanings attributed to the term Ornament, and to the concepts that revolved around it and constituted essential components of Architecture in Tradition. The second moment is that in which Semper\'s concept of Ornament is analyzed throughout the mid-nineteenth century European context; in this view, thelegitimacy of Classical Tradition is weakened, due in part to the development of modern industry. In seeking to update the concept of Ornament, Semper\'s writings make explicit the crisis of Ornamentation in Architecture, which began well before the dawn of modern time, unlike traditional historiography says. This thesis argues that the Semperian Ornament should be understood as a concept that operates within the discipline of Architecture and is part of the author\'s efforts to reorganize it in the mid-nineteenth century.

A partir do estudo das imagens do Beatus de Facundus, manuscrito produzido em Leão e Castela no século XI, esta dissertação trata do poder do ornamento de tomar posse da matéria da imagem e a fazer funcionar segundo sua ordenação. Distanciamos o conceito de ornamento da redução a um elemento decorativo, para restituir-lhe a potencialidade funcional presente em sua origem etimológica nos termos de ornamentum e kosmos. O ornamento assume diversas funções além de uma decoração honorífica. Ele trabalha associado ao símbolo, à iconografia, à memória e aos elementos composicionais da imagem ao exercer funções moduladora e estrutural. Seu trabalho torna a imagem uma máquina, um corpo material complexo e funcional. O ornamento é uma beleza honorífica que pode ser assumida por qualquer elemento composicional, desde os mais figurativos aos mais abstratos, como as cores. Com respaldo nos conceitos, sobretudo, de imago, figura (Didi-Huberman), imagemobjeto (Jérôme Baschet), ornamental e ornamentalidade (Jean-Claude Bonne), abordamos o ornamento, no Beatus de Facundus, como um elemento que gere uma estrutura dialógica através de seu poder de orquestração. Desse modo, este estudo constitui um esforço de circunscrever um livro e lhe permitir mostrar seu corpo e seu trabalho através de suas próprias ferramentas. / From the study of images of Beatus of Facundus, that is a manuscript produced in the kingdom of Castile and Leon, in the eleventh century, this dissertation deals with the \"power of the ornament\" to take hold of the material of image and to make it work according to their ordination. We distance the concept of ornament from the reduction to a decorative element, to restore his functional potentiality, that is present in his etymological origin, in the terms of ornamentum and kosmos. The ornament takes many functions besides an honorific decoration. It works associated with the symbol, the iconography, the memory and the compositional elements of the image by exercising modulating and structural functions. Its work turns the image into a machine, a complex and functional material body. The ornament is an honorific beauty that can be assumed by any compositional element, from the more figurative to more abstract, like the colors. With endorsement of some concepts, especially of imago, figure (Didi-Huberman), image-object (Jérôme Baschet), ornamental and ornamentality (Jean-Claude Bonne), we approach the ornament, in the Beatus of Facundus, as an element that generates a dialogic structure through its power of orchestration. In this manner, this study constitutes an effort to circumscribe a book and allow it to show its body and its work through its own tools.

Key pattern is a type of abstract ornament characterised by spiral shapes which are angular rather than curved. It has been used to decorate objects and architecture around the world from prehistory onward, but flourished in a unique form in Insular art (the art of early medieval Britain and Ireland, c. AD 600-1100). Ornament of many kinds was the dominant mode in Insular art, however, key pattern has remained the least studied and most misunderstood. From the 19th century, specialists mainly have relied on simplified, line-drawn reproductions rather than original artworks. These 'correct' hand-made details, isolate patterns from their contexts, and in the case of Insular key pattern, de-emphasise its important physical structures. This resulted in misunderstandings of key pattern's structure and an inability to recognise evidence for medieval artists' working processes. Postwar art historians and archaeologists then largely abandoned study of ornament structure altogether, in critical reaction to this earlier method. For two centuries, academics have overlooked the artists' role in pattern-making, and how their creative agency is reflected in patterns' internal structures. In response, this thesis presents a new, artist-centred method for the study of Insular key pattern, which adapts Michael Brennan's pioneering approach to Insular interlace (a different pattern), to suit key pattern's distinct structure. Close examination of objects and monuments, rather than idealised 'types', has revealed how Insular artists themselves understood key pattern and handled it in the moment of creation. The core of the thesis is an analysis of key pattern's structural properties, i.e. its physical parts and the abstract, often mathematical concepts that Insular makers used to arrange and manipulate these parts, in order to fix mistakes, fulfill specific design goals, or invent anew. Case studies of individual artworks support this analysis and demonstrate how key pattern is a vehicle for accessing Insular artists' thought processes, as they improvised with the pattern's basic structures for maximum creative effect. For the first time, this thesis also places Insular key pattern in its global context, via comparative analyses of key patterns from other world art traditions. This investigation has confirmed key pattern's origin in prehistoric basketry and weaving technologies and explains why Insular key pattern's geometric complexity remains unparalleled. The adaptation and expansion of this new analytical method for key pattern also proves its applicability to any type of ornament from any culture, making it immediately useful to art historians and archaeologists. This thesis therefore represents a larger paradigm shift that brings ornament study into the 21st century.

In architecture we usually divide built things into structure or ornament. The same way of thinking can be applied to fashion. First you have a construction (garment) and then you add an ornament, like a way of styling. This works aim to change that relationship. One way of exploring the relation between the two concepts is to subordinate structure under ornament in order to change the hierarchy between form and decoration. Ornaments have in themselves structural elements that can be transformed into construction. My aim is to find these and let them be the bearing structures when augmenting for new shapes and expression with a codependent relationship between the two.The concrete methods of this work have been carried out through experimentation with different perspective on ornamentation in a trial and error process to achieve new expression and potential of ornament. The results are various examples of the design method carried out in different scale and proportions. They show how the method could be used in a structural way to find form and a more pictorial way to build expression. It questions modernistic thinking with its form follow function principle and explores other values such as attraction of the eye and the expression of light reflective materials. It explores the clash between tradition and new material. A new discussion could be raised about what is construction and what is ornamentation, if a separation is needed or even can be done. / Program: Modedesignutbildningen

This thesis surveys the ninth-century metallic threads decorating silks discovered at Famen temple in Shaanxi province, China. In this research, metallic threads decorating Famen silks have been studied and documented in detail in order to understand how they were produced and how they were applied. Samples of metallic threads were selected and optical microscope and SEM/EDS were used to determine their morphology and composition. Problems regarding the current terminology used to describe metallic threads are briefly considered, and a systematic renaming of different types of metallic threads is suggested. Analysis results show that most Famen metallic threads were made of gold strips without substrate wound around a fibrous core, and that very few are silver strips without substrate wound around a fibrous core. Silver strips with paper substrate wound around a fibrous core are found among Famen silks, providing very early examples of this type of metallic thread in the world. Technical evidence demonstrates that the Famen metallic strips were cut from hammered metallic foil. It was found that metallic threads of different metal composition with different physical characteristics were selected according to the decoration techniques used and the function of the silks. The use of metallic threads with different grades of evenness in dimension and morphology for different decoration techniques was also found. The gold contents of these gold threads are all very high, and the thicknesses of the gold strips are large. All these characteristics are probably related to the function of Famen silks as objects of Buddhist worship that had been donated to the temple by members of the Tang imperial family and other high-ranking people. Technical investigation into the manufacture of modern traditional Chinese metallic threads was carried out in this research. Combined with analysis of the morphological, structural, and material nature of Famen metallic threads, the key technical characteristics of modern traditional metallic threads were found, which provided important evidence for deducing the manufacturing techniques of Famen metallic threads. Successful reconstructive experiments that produced metallic threads similar to Famen metallic threads were carried out in the laboratory by the author. The use of other known related techniques to produce Famen metallic threads was eliminated on technical grounds. With the above evidence, the manufacturing of Famen metallic threads, especially how the metallic strips were wound around the fibrous core, are reasonably deduced here. By investigating a number of currently accessible Chinese historical metallic threads from other periods, the evolutionary principles of Chinese metallic threads are concluded. The special characteristics of Famen metallic threads, the reasons determining these characteristics are better understood, and their role in the development of Chinese metallic threads is assessed.

The meaning of the architectural surface was thoroughly reconsidered by architects and historians in England and Europe between early and mid-nineteenth century. There were two major trends. The first one was historicist. Ornament and colour was considered important because it represented the origins of architecture. The second approach was rational and tectonic. It suggested that an honest surface had to be created by emphasizing the structure and by truthfully expressing materials. An unusual response to these debates was John Ruskin??s history of medieval and Renaissance architecture. This was published as The seven lamps of architecture (1849), and the three volume study, The stones of Venice (1851-1853). Ruskin??s writings were difficult to grasp. On the one hand, they were fragmented, historically inaccurate, and lacking in explanatory power. On the other hand, they emphasized surface ornament, without ever indicating its architectural ??use??. As a result, nineteenth and twentieth century historians and architects declared Ruskin??s writings as being irrelevant to architectural theory and practice. By examining Ruskin??s writings on architecture through the theoretical lens of dress, body, and gender, the thesis demonstrates that he proposed the theory of the adorned ??wall veil??.This was a two-part theory. Firstly, architecture was defined by the presence of planar walls. The masonry structure of these walls was masked and decorated by a seamless dress-like surface, consisting of relief and polychromatic ornaments. Secondly, Ruskin distinguished between the ideal and the corrupt dress. The ideal dress celebrated the spiritual aspects of the body (surface, skin, and colour). The corrupt dress represented the scientific image of the body (depth, bones and muscles, and form). The ideal dress was reflected by the surfaces of medieval buildings, and the corrupt dress was mirrored by the Renaissance architectural surface. Through these arguments, the thesis makes two major contributions. Firstly, it shows that Ruskin??s views were consistent with the architectural modernism of the twentieth century, in which the free fa??ade and the atectonic surface were key concerns. Secondly, it establishes that Gottfried Semper??s writings were not the sole origin of the debates on dress and architecture. It shows that Ruskin developed a critical theory of dress by synthesizing debates on gender, science, and spirituality. He used this theory to suggest a new approach towards architecture.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1987. / Includes abstract. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 507-544).

Thesis--Aarhus universitet. / Added t.p.: Furniture by N.H. Jardin ... Captions and summary in English. Bibliography: p. 343-354.

The residential designs of Fay Jones embody the ideals of organic architecture in the highest degree. Working in the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jones produced a wide range of houses that represent an intensely personal endeavor. Although the chapels and public pavilions designed by Jones are his most famous works, the meticulous construction detailing and elaborate material joints in Jones' houses reward long-term residents, who discover new details and new compositions of light and shadow for years after moving into their homes. The careful working and reworking of details contribute to a unifying generative idea that enforces the part-to-whole relationship of organic building, but it is also an outpouring of Jones' belief that caring is an “imperative moral issue.” It is difficult to occupy a Jones building or study the work without getting swept up in Jones' notion that “[one] must idealize, even romanticize, what [one] is doing.” Through a consideration of clients' relationships with Fay Jones and the spaces they occupy, this study reflects on Jones' hope that “perhaps the inhabitants can be more comfortably and more meaningfully integrated into the natural forces of life.” Jones' thoughts about architecture, recorded in his journals and lecture notes, reinforce the accounts of key, residential clients who benefited from Jones' earnestness about building and living. The carefully arranged joint details of Jones' designs form a physical representation of the close relationships of Jones, his clients, and the craftsmen who built the work. / text