A Study Of Owen Jones’ S Decoration Theory

This study focuses on Owen Jones, one of the founders of modern design history. Jones was a versatile architect and designer and he was also one of the most influential design theorists of the nineteenth century. He helped pioneer modern color theory, and his theories on flat patterning and ornament1 still resonate with contemporary designers today. He rose to prominence with his studies of Islamic decoration2 at the Alhambra, and the associated publication of his drawings, which pioneered new standards in chromolithography. Jones was a pivotal figure in the formation of the South Kensington Museum and another key figure in 19 th century design reform.This paper gives an overview of the historical information and literature of Jones in the past century. It demonstrates Jones’ s ideas, theories, and practice. It summarizes Jones’ s historical contributions in four aspects. First of all, he made significant contributions to the architectural and decorative theory, ornament pattern style, formalism and visual perception, color and architectural decorative relationships. Moreover, Owen Jones studied decorative theories and printing technology, and published two masterpieces: “The Grammar of Ornament”, “Plans, Sections, Elevations and Details of the Alhambra”. Additionally, he did research on interior space decoration and design, display and design, and was also directly responsible for the interior decoration and layout of exhibits for the Great Exhibition building of 1851. He also established the famous 37 principles of design and decoration and put forward several important academic concepts of decorative language. Jones believed in the search for a modern style unique to the nineteenth century, which one was radically different to the prevailing aesthetics of NeoClassicism and the Gothic Revival. He looked towards the Islamic world for much of this inspiration, using his carefully observed studies of Islamic decoration at the Alhambra to develop bold new theories on flat patterning, geometry and abstraction in ornament. His theories have greatly influenced the contemporary style in art and design. For example, Dresser, Morris, Corbusier, Wright, Sullivan utilized Jones’ s theories of color and form.For quite some time, researchers did not attach enough importance to Jones’ s ideas and theories and it wasn’t until the mid-20 th century that researchers recognized the importance of his work the combination of design, science and technology, led to a wave of studies on Owen Jones.These studies then are based on the comprehensive studies of literature and results of the earlier researches on Owen Jones. With respect to the traditional studies, the historical value and status of Owen Jones are re-evaluated in this paper.The major accomplishments of this study are threefold.Firstly, it is illustrated systemically the whole process of Jones’ s theory formation, creation, practice and theory development and an important breakthrough in the thoughts and methods of researching Jones’ s ornament principles. Secondly, this dissertation derived five basic categories from 37 ornament principles and several important academic concepts, such as “national type”, “original type”, and so on. Thirdly, it established Jones’ s characteristics of color stylism and formalism by positive method. On this basis, this dissertation points out that Jones’ s design ideas, ornament principles, and color theories exert an important influence on contemporary designers and the modern design movement.