"....Da das ornament nicht mehr organisch mit unserer kultur zusammenhängt, ist es auch nicht mehr der ausdruck unserer kultur. Das ornament, das heute geschaffen wird, hat keinen zusammenhang mit uns, hat überhaupt keine menschlichen zusammenhänge, keinen zusammenhang mit der weltordnung..."

"As the ornament does not have an organic connection to our culture anymore, it also is not any more the expression of our culture. The ornament created today has no connection with us, has no human connections at all, no connection with the order of the world..."

Adolf Loos, Ornament and Crime

Inspired by this classic treatise by Adolf Loos, this project started out as an investigation into ornaments. Are ornaments and patterns indeed, or still, useless and lacking any connections with us?

Looking at their possible use and connection to our culture, patterns and ornaments have profound uses and meanings for many forms of life, be it birds attracting possible mates or deep-sea fish attracting prey.

Ornaments also played a profound role in all human societies, signifying various concepts of space, power, belief and myth from the Aztecs to ancient Egypt, from ancient Rome to the Chinese dynasties. Thus the inspiration to develop this project came from sources as varied as Aztec ornaments, tectonic patterns, patterns of luminescent deep-sea fish, and hi-tech materials. The first step consequently was to design surfaces and materials from these inspirations.

Unlike usual design processes, the process here did not imply that there is a problem to be solved; Instead it aimed at developing ornaments and patterns as a formal language which in and through itself could create possible use value.

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