Reviving ornament : a case study of the Bekaa

Abstract

It is evident that home is not an object, a building, but a diffuse and complex condition that integrates memories and images, desires and fears, the past and the present. This thesis focuses on ornamental motifs especially the wheat motif that is unique and that is mostly found in the Bekaa. Each country or region has a local motif that individuals have used to decorate their dwellings. Due to the sparse knowledge concerning local ornamental motifs in Lebanon and the Bekaa specifically and the globalization of design and pattern there has been a serious decline in the use of local motifs and patterns. This research explores the importance of ornaments in human culture in general and local motifs in the Bekaa in Lebanon and explores ways they can be revived so that designers can use them.It also proposes guidelines for design through a project.