How important is ornamentation in architecture?

As an AI language model, I don't have personal opinions and preferences. However, ornamentation has played various roles in architecture throughout history. In some cultures, ornamentation was considered an essential element of buildings, representing wealth, power, and status. In other cultures, such as the modernist movement, ornamentation was minimized or even eliminated as a means of emphasizing functionalism and simplicity. Nowadays, ornamentation can serve both aesthetic and practical purposes. It can add character to a building, express cultural or regional identities, create a sense of scale and proportion, and help to reinforce structural integrity. However, in some cases, excessive ornamentation can detract from the building's overall beauty and utility. Therefore, it can be said that the importance of ornamentation in architecture depends on the context and purpose of the building, as well as the cultural and aesthetic preferences of the society in which it is constructed.

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