International studio (32.1907)

The Designer s Approach to His Problem

FIGURE 3

Every constructed form may be said to have
various points of force; these include angles, joints
and elements which hold the form together, as
hinges, locks, staples, etc. The points from which
a model hangs, upon which it stands, or from which
its handles spring form other points of force. From
these points decorative elements may properly
arise.

Fig. 3 shows a glass goblet with one point of
force where the stem joins the bowl and another
where it joins the foot. An intermediate point has
been created by the fillet on the stem. This serves

to mark the place where the pushing force moves
upward to the bowl and downward to the ground.

Fig. 4 illustrates the angle of a form (the metal
corner of a blotter pad) used as a growth point.
The decoration has been made to express force.
Its lines spring outward, and seem to have a
vigorous grasping action, as though they would
grip the paper thrust beneath them.

While a decoration, however, may properly
spring from the growth points of the form, not every
point which offers need be utilized. The structural
elements suggest a variety of schemes for decora-
tion, but the designer must decide which of these
he will develop. To multiply decoration because a
number of growth points offer is a mistake. Fig. 5
shows the overdecoration resulting from the use of
too many such points in a design.

4. The decoration 0/ a constructive element should
serve to explain its junction.

Each part or architectural unit of a form should
make plain the particular role which it plays.
This is a principle of all constructive design. The
legs of a model must by their placing and their
strength make plain that it is their business to bear
the weight imposed upon them. Feet if attached
to the legs should broaden to grip the surface on
which the form stands. The bracket which sup-
ports a weight must brace the shelves above. The
column must bear its load proudly, its capital
swelling to receive the pressure of arch or achitrave.

The decoration when applied to each one of these
constructive features should help to make plain the
service which is performed. The lines upon the
table leg must add to its sturdy strength. The
claws upon the foot must spread tenaciously. The
flutings on the column should carry the eye upward.
The leaves upon the capital must show pressure
from above borne with ease.

Ease, indeed, is an insistent note in structural
decoration. Each part of the model must be seen to
be doing its work, but doing it confidently and with
no sense of insufficiency. As a corollary of the
above it follows that elements of a form which
differ in function should differ in decoration. A
model so treated will then explain its service both
through its construction and its applied design,
h In the various forms which have been reviewed
there appear a number of examples of decoration
dependingon function. Fig. 5, though overdecorated,
is a typical illustration. It shows the lip of the
form supported by a border and the handles
strengthened by a linear pattern. Where the latter
join the vase they expand into radical or shell-like
ornaments, which emphasize the force of attach-

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