215this structure, it becomes integrated with constructive > de-
tail. Then, the elaboration of joints, seams and connections
between constructive elements appears as not only a struc-
tural necessity, but also an opportunity to present the build-
ing through its continuous ornamental shaping to a mode of
perception that is simultaneously structured and holistic.
Ornamentation, then, is also an appropriate instrument
for rendering the architectural order of large-scale structures
intelligible on a suitable scale for close-range areas. This func-
tion is served by ornamentation in particular in the tactile and
haptic sense when it fascinates the gaze through its small-scale
plasticity and high density, thereby offering a certain resist-
ance to the rapid gliding of the eye. Having ornamental effects
may also be the intrinsic structure or texture of materials, for
example the grain of wood or natural stone, types of textile,
or the facture of certain treatments. Independently of the ma-
terial employed, however, an impression of > materiality can
be evoked by the ornamentation itself, for example the soft
warmness of a finely engraved object, when contrasted with
the cold hardness suggested by a smooth surface (> synaesthe-
sia). In contemporary architecture, special interest is focused
on the depth effects of superimposed layers of ornamentation
as boundary layers that play with the delimitation or dissolu-
tion of space, and with optical effects, including moiré.
Ornamental features are often transferred to the object
as a whole. Subtle facade ornamentation gives an entire build-
ing a fine quality, while coarse ornamentation gives it a rustic
appearance. In their > directionality or rhythm, dynamic or-
namental figures transmit their spatial gesture to the build-
ing as a whole. Ornamentation allows relationships as well
as distinctions to be elaborated, and contours or transitions
to be clarified that might otherwise be overlooked. Finally, it
may render comprehensible the architectural structure of an
entire > composition through the interplay of its parts, and
even to generate contextual relationships on the scale of the
city as a whole.