Defense Date
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
Dean's Office Qatar
First Advisor
Basma Hamdy
Second Advisor
Reema Abu Hassan
Third Advisor
Jochen Sokoly
Abstract
Adolf Loos’s declaration that “ornament is a crime” defined modernist design, establishing a legacy that dismisses ornamentation as wasteful and regressive. This research questions that legacy by repositioning aesthetics as a divinely grounded value, inspired by the Qur’anic vision of Paradise. In this celestial realm, beauty is not wasteful but a manifestation of divine perfection. Conceptually, the project reclaims ornament as a vital tool for contemplating metaphysical themes. Materially, it reimagines glass, shifting it from modernist "radical honesty" to a medium of layered depth. Recombining traditional Islamic ornamentation practices such as Girih and Chaharbagh, the project evokes the Qur’anic vision of Paradise, culminating in a glass installation that reaffirms ornamentation’s value as a sophisticated semiotic system where aesthetic form, rather than being viewed as mere distraction or excess, is celebrated as an inextricable part of function.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-8-2026