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The eclipse of a commonplace idea: decorum in architectural theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2001

Peter Kohane
Affiliation:
Faculty of the Built Environment, University of New South Wales 2006, Australia; [email protected]
Michael Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Art History and Theory, National Art School (Sydney), Forbes St., Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia; [email protected]

Abstract

Decorum refers to the suitability of a building's design and was a commonplace principle of architectural theory from the Renaissance to the beginnings of modernism. It was relevant to ornament, shaping the way a building articulated its status within civic and social order. This essay examines decorum as part of the history of ideas, with phases of growth, codification, and decline. Its fading was not unresisted, being part of a critical debate that emerged in the wake of the Industrial Revolution – namely, the role architecture might play in creating a cohesive environment for the modern world.

Type
theory
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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