"A Prolegomena to a New Study of Ornament: Architecture as Embodied Ornament in the Great Mosque of Córdoba"
Date Added
28/06/2022
Content Type
Dissertation
Category
Masters
Link to Content
Subject Area
Mosques
Author
Diana Winfield Luber
Publisher Name
Diana Winfield Luber
Year of Publication
2020
Description
This thesis argues for a new theory of ornament as embodied. The argument for a
new theory of embodied ornament responds to and rejects canonical notions of ornament
as an applied, decorative skin. Rather, it argues for an embodied ornament that is
inextricable from the structure and subjectivity of an object. The thesis engages with the
canon of literature around ornament, focusing largely on its interpretation and role in
Islamic contexts. Further, it integrates new approaches to understanding Islamic art that
emphasize perception, ambiguity, and allusion. The application of these new approaches
to a reading of ornament opens new avenues of inquiry and interpretive potential. The
case study for this new theory of ornament is the Great Mosque of Córdoba, which was
founded in AD 786 in al-Andalus (modern day Spain) by the Umayyad amir ‘Abd alRahman I. The horseshoe arch, with its alternating red and white voussoirs, is the
elemental form of the embodied architectural program. The combination of the potential
for infinite repetition of the arch with the constraint of its own form combine to create an
ornamental program that is embodied in the structure of the mosque itself.
Files
English
Architecture, , Architecture, Islamic., Mosques
Diana Winfield Luber
The University of Texas at Austin
2020