Ornamentation

The Watts Towers (WT), an iconic Los Angeles artwork created by Sabato Rodia in 1921–1954, is covered with mosaics whose elements include thousands of mollusk shells. Little is known about the diversity or sources of these shells. Here, we document the diversity of mollusk shells present in the WT and use data on their characteristics to make inferences about their provenance. We identified shells of 34 species, 24 of them bivalves (clams and their relatives) and 10 gastropods (snails). Almost all (29/34) of these species are native to southern California shorelines, especially those of bays and estuaries. Rodia could have accessed these sites on foot, by automobile, or by using the Red Car trolley system. Some of the bivalve shells bear drill holes made by naticid gastropods, suggesting that they were collected post-mortem, presumably after they had washed up on beaches. These observations are consistent with the sparse documentary evidence on the origin of the shells of the WT. This detailed information on the diversity of the seashells of the WT should be of utility to conservators, and of interest to scholars of and visitors to the WT.

Sabremos bordar es una tesis de grado de Diseño Textil que, como el nombre lo sugiere, procura conjugar desde esta disciplina -el Diseño- dos temáticas: el bordado a mano y la identidad nacional.

Al inicio de este proyecto nos dedicamos a estudiar y ensayar el bordado a mano así como sus diferentes técnicas y posibles combinaciones. A través de diversas vías constatamos que tiende al desuso. Esta tendencia, que está motivada por  múltiples factores no se limita a esta técnica, sino que se extiende a muchas otras tradicionales. Dado este “diagnóstico de situación”, nuestra propuesta derivó hacia la exploración e investigación de cómo desde el Diseño se puede revalorizar el bordado a mano, a la vez que éste como recurso de ornamentación brinde su calidez, empatía y valor al textil. De esta forma adherimos a la tendencia que se percibe en diferentes proyectos de Diseño por retomar y revalorizar la aplicación de técnicas tradicionales a mano o artesanales.

Identificar el posible uso del bordado como recurso comunicacional condujo nuestra investigación hacia el estudio de cómo delimitar ciertos rasgos de una identidad nacional actual.
Desde una perspectiva que tuviera en cuenta nuestros valores e idiosincrasias exploramos cómo poner en juego algunos de esos rasgos a través del Diseño de tal forma que se produjera una hibridación entre innovación y tradición.

Esta tesis pretende incentivar la implementación y el desarrollo del bordado a mano a través de la innovación en el Diseño de las piezas. La clave es lograr la hibridación de Diseño y bordado en proyectos que realcen algunos rasgos característicos de la identidad nacional.


Sabremos bordar is a graduate degree thesis on Textile Design that, as the name evokes, tries to combine, by means of this discipline –Design–, two themes: hand embroidery and national
identity.

At the beginning of the project, we devoted ourselves to study and practise hand embroidery, as well as its different techniques and possible combinations. Through various methods, we determined that hand embroidery is falling into disuse. This trend, which is motivated by several factors, is not limited only to hand embroidery, but also to many traditional techniques. Due to this “situational diagnosis”, our proposal was led to the examination and research on how Design can give worth, again, to hand embroidery, and, at the same time, can give warmth, empathy and value to the textile as a means of ornamentation. We thus support the trend, seen on several
Design projects, to retake and give worth to applying handmade or handcrafted traditional techniques.

Identifying embroidery as a possible communicational resource led our research towards the study of how to delimit some features of a current national identity. Taking into account our values and idiosyncrasies, we examined how to apply some of these features to Design, in order to make a hybridisation between innovation and tradition.

This thesis hopes to promote the application and development of hand embroidery by innovating on the Design of the pieces. The key is accomplishing a hybridisation between the Design and embroidery, on the one hand, and projects that highlight characteristic features of the national identity on the other.

Background:In the historical process, ornamentation made with aesthetic concerns has emerged in a dimension that is identified with the concepts of being noticed, distinguished, symbolizing, enrichment, and it has been the quality that determines the originality of the building. Will be blessed to receive break down the ornamentation, which is substantially more than a complex engineering component, and to reappear socially, socially and monetarily. The ornamentation is an interpreter and extension that associates the structure with nature and interfaces individuals with history and culture; hence, the adornment is a supportability device for the neighborhood character of the structure, the earth, and the whole urban setting. The purpose of re-ornamentation is to base the design on tradition and to refer to it. Contrary to the traditional understanding, ornamentation in contemporary architecture is loaded with new directions. The current concept of ornamentation can vary from architectural detail to urban texture. Re-ornamentation only looks at how the ornamentation and character of the building can be adapted to modern times, without creating false illusions of reconstruction. Materials and Methods: The method of the study consists of documentations, analyzes and evaluation processes. The development of the ornament is briefly described. Information about the art of ornamentation related to architecture is given. By making a literature review about this innovative ornamentation approach, examining the existing projects, research and made sketches and sketches produced for the new design, by developing the design, the digital designing process has begun. Results: This theory has been inspected as far as the recorded turn of events and change of traditional ornamentation to contemporary engineering and ornamentations utilized on the surfaces of design components of structures. Conclusion:In this examination, instances of creative ornamentation approaches on the planet are given, ornamentation programs in the conventional places of are inspected, another venture configuration is made by making verifiable and contemporary correlations. More work is expected to find how the idea of customary ornamentation can be coordinated with contemporary ornamentation.

Despite the great interest in the Botai culture spread across the north Kazakhstan steppe and considered by some to be the first horse-herders, the ceramic vessels associated with the culture have been poorly studied. Ceramic complexes of the early civilizations contain valuable information on technology and production as well as traditions and culture. In this paper, we present the results of the technological and ornamentation analyses of ceramic vessels from the Eneolithic contexts of the Botai archaeological site. This analysis is based on the study of 1234 fragments from 102 ceramic vessels collected during the excavation seasons of 2011–2014. Our study demonstrates that clay with the addition of iron was preferred by the Botai pottery makers as a source of raw material. Based on the diversity of natural inclusions in clay, we suggest that around 20 sources of raw material were used. A petrographic study shows that the Botai pottery makers exploited sources located within a 1 km radius from the site. A variety of organic additions, such as wool, dung, chamotte (calcined and crushed clay), and organic solution were used during the preparation of the molding mass. The use of local resources for raw materials and repetitive elements of ornamentation suggests that the majority of the Botai ceramic masters used the same technologies. A significant number of molding mass recipes were used at Botai, however, some of these point to existing contacts with other Eneolithic groups, such as Tersek culture of Turgai deflection. We believe that the broad territory of the north Kazakhstan steppe was populated by a unified cultural community made up of individual groups that exchanged ideas and technologies.