01.06. - 21.09.2008

RE-SAMPLING ORNAMENT

Curators: Oliver Domeisen, Francesca Ferguson
Exhibition Design: Revolver Creative Services – Thilo Fuchs & Oliver Mayer

Exactly 100 years after Adolf Loos wrote Ornament and Crime, a manifesto that effectively relegated ornament in architecture to the peripheries of the discourse, “Re-sampling Ornament” takes a first step towards tracing its re-emergence. For decades the language of architectural ornament has remained largely unspoken, but for a few memorable post-modern architectu-ral experiments. Yet from Owen Jones 'Grammar of Ornament' to John Ruskin, Gottfried Semper, Louis Sullivan and William Hogarth – and contemporaries such as Kent Bloomer, a rich vocabulary of opposing and often contradictory theories exists to be readapted, re-sampled, and once again applied at the heart of architectural practice.

Oliver Domeisen's research at his unit at London’s Architectural Association into the history and contemporary application of ornament in architecture has made it possible to embellish and enrich a mutual selection of new architectural projects with terminology drawn from many dictionaries; allowing for associations and groupings that can identify vital traces of ornament in current practice and at the same time rethink its boundaries, creating a new context within which contemporary projects can be redefined and rethought.

RE-SAMPLING ORNAMENT features:
HITOSHI ABE: AIP (RESTAURANT AOBA-TEI), SENDAI, 2005  
JUN AOKI: LOUIS VUITTON ROPONGI HILLS, TOKYO, 2003  
BARKOW LEIBINGER: CUT TO FIT, 2008  
BERTHELIER FICHET TRIBOUILLET: MEDIATHEK – TOURS NORD, 2007  
PATRICK BLANC: DER VERTIKALE GARTEN – MUSÉE DES ARTS PREMIERS QUAI BRANLY, PARIS, 2004  
EVAN DOUGLIS: HELIOSKOPE/ HELIOSCOPES, LOS ANGELES 2006-2007  
MANUELLE GAUTRAND: ‹C_42›: CITROËN - FLAGSHIP SHOWROM, PARIS, 2007  
GRAMAZIO KOHLER: WEINGUT GANTENBEIN - FLÄSCH 2006  
THOMAS HEATHERWICK: EAST BEACH CAFÉ, LITTLEHAMPTON, 2007 
HILD UND K: FASSADENSANIERUNG BERLIN-SCHÖNEBERG, BERLIN 1999 
TOYO ITO: TOD’S OMOTESANDO GEBÄUDE, TOKYO, 2004 
JÜRGEN MAYER H: DANFOSS UNIVERSE, NORDBORG, 2007 
OFFICE FOR METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE (OMA) & 2X4: THE MC CORMICK-TRIBUNE CAMPUS CENTER, CHICAGO 2003 
REALITIES UNITED & NIETO SOBEJANO: OSTFASSADE DES ‹CENTRO DE CREACIÓN CONTEMPORÁNEA DE CÓRDOBA› (C4), CORDOBA, 2008/2011
FRANÇOIS ROCHE/ R&SIE(N): WATER FLUX, EVOLÈNE, 2009
FRANCIS SOLER: MINISTERIUM FÜR KULTUR UND KOMUNIKATION - ILÔT DES BONS ENFANTS, PARIS, 2005

Upcoming exhibitions

19.09.2026 - 03.01.2027

Tony Fretton: Practice

Opening: 18/9/2026, 7 PM

The S AM Swiss Architecture Museum is proud to announce PRACTICE, a retrospective exhibition of selected projects of architect Tony Fretton (b. 1945, London). He established Tony Fretton Architects in London in 1984, which ran until 2024. His published texts on architecture are numerous, and he has taught extensively, including as Chair of Interiors Buildings and Cities at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft, and as guest professor at GSD Harvard, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne. He lives and works in London.

Fretton’s buildings and projects are presented at S AM through texts, photographs and drawings. Together, they show Fretton’s practice as continuity of reflection on the existing environment, including the social, cultural and political dimensions of the city and what lies outside it.