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Beauty + Utility


It seems we can take nature with us everywhere, even in it's pine-scented freshness.

This classic air freshener is a contemporary representation of what A.W.N Pugin stood against; a constructed ornament that was an imitation of nature with a "cheap and false magnificence." Design reformers that later followed such as Henry Cole + Richard Redgrave and Owen Jones all believed in these same principles and tried to educate society in the mid 19th century in regards to what they considered to be true and false aspects of design.

Owen Jones in particular believed in Pugin's ideals of design and although they were originally based upon gothic architecture, Jones applied these rules of beauty and utility to the Art Nouveau movement in his book, 'Grammer of Ornament,' in 1856. He looked to nature to define laws and focused on flat patterns, geometric shape, repetition and abstraction in his work during the British design reform movement.

Jones believed that, "construction should be decorated, decoration should never be purposely constructed." With evidence given in respect to prioritizing the function of design first and foremost before it can appeal to our sensuous impulse, I do agree with the idea that design should be utilized and not only be beautifully stationary.

image used from website Auto Express:

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