Ornament and truth

Another comparison to one of the greats of Modernist architecture: Adolf Loos (Wikipedia), who famously connected ornament and crime, wrote that “The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful objects.”[1] Lorenzo Wheeler, on the other hand, warned clients to “Beware of ornament,”[2]. He wrote:

[F]eatures which, by their presence, imply that they are there for a practical purpose which they do not fulfill, … are not ornaments; they are architectural lies.[3]

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Version 8.9 of the list (pdf) includes updated information on the Bronx building built by Dr. Charles Graef and the addition to the Littleton Hospital. That addition, it turns out, survives behind the original hospital building:


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  1. Adolf Loos, Ornament und Verbrechen (1913).
  2. Lorenzo B. Wheeler, “Furniture. / A Series of Interesting Papers / By L.B. Wheeler, Architect of the H.I. Kimball House,” Atlanta Constitution (10 January 1886), 8.
  3. Lorenzo B. Wheeler, “Style and Fashion. / By L.B. Wheeler, Architect of the New H.I. Kimball House,” Atlanta Constitution (27 December 1885), 4.

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