Ornament Is Not a Crime makes the case, through twenty-one houses spanning the globe, that the postmodern design impulse — its bold colour, symbolic ornament, and refusal of functionalist austerity — never really left; it simply waited for the right moment to return.
About This Book
After decades dominated by minimalism, mid-century modernism, and the cool restraint of Scandinavian design, a new generation of architects and designers is reclaiming shape, scale, and surface as legitimate expressive tools. This book documents that shift through the lens of twenty-one residential interiors, each one engaging — knowingly or otherwise — with the postmodern tradition. Joyful colour relationships, material juxtapositions, pattern, wit, and an unabashed celebration of ornament define these projects. For anyone working in interior design or architectural theory, the book reframes postmodernism not as period nostalgia but as a living, evolving sensibility in contemporary domestic space.
Key Features
- 270 pages of full-colour residential interior photography and project documentation
- Written by Rebecca Gross
- Twenty-one international house case studies demonstrating contemporary postmodern design
- Published by Thames & Hudson, ISBN 9781760763084
What You'll Discover
- How contemporary designers are revisiting postmodernism's core provocation — that form need not follow function — in residential interiors
- The role of unexpected materials and symbolic references in giving furniture and interior design renewed cultural meaning
- How colour, pattern, and surface celebration operate as design arguments rather than decorative afterthoughts
- A global survey of houses that use wit and whimsy as genuine compositional strategies, not stylistic superficialities
About the Author
[Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 270
- Dimensions: 221 x 281 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781760763084
- Publisher: Thames & Hudson
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Interior designers, architects, and design-curious readers drawn to postmodern history, residential design, and the resurgence of ornament and colour in contemporary interiors.