Ornamentation,  The Living Skin.

In the essay, Ornamentation and Crime , Adolf Loos resonated with Louis Sullivan’s  remark : “it could only benefit us if for a time we were to abandon ornament and concentrate entirely on the erection of buildings that were finely shaped and charming in their sobriety”. 

According to Loos, ornamentation is a result of one's urges. It has an erotic origin. A sensual desire or an excitement. He says that the invention of the Catholic cross is a symbol of the urges within the man who made it , the horizontal dash  is the prone woman, and the vertical , the man penetrating her. Beethoven also had the urge and he created the Nine Symphony. While on the other hand , today's man just paints the wall with erotic symbols to satisfy his urges . Loos calls him a criminal or rather a degenerate. Loos critiques that removing ornaments from our mundane objects is essential for cultural evolution, he views ornamentations as a waste of human labour , money , material that makes the objects prematurely obsolete. Loos states in his essay , “Since ornamentation is no longer organically linked with our culture , its also no longer the expression of our culture.”

Ornamentation when originated from the earth of which it belongs to carries the essence of the culture. The Stepwells in India are  locally known as baolis, vavs, or kalyanis.In Gujarat, the terms vāv or vāvdī or vāi are in common use, as in the region of Idar. In some travellers' accounts they are also transcribed as 'bauri' or 'bowrie'. In Rajasthan as also in the northern region of India around Delhi and Agra, the terms are bãoli or bāuli. The Sanskrit term which appears in the classical śilpa-texts and in inscriptions is vāpi, vāpī or vāpikā. It is obvious that modern Indian languages derived their terms from this Sanskrit root.

A stepwell is a distinctive  water monument,  combining a well with a long stepped corridor descending several storeys underground. Architecturally, it consists of three main parts: a vertical well for drawing water, a stepped passage leading down to the water level, and a series of intermediate pavilion-like structures (kūṭa) that interrupt the descent. These underground structures often resemble subterranean temples and are richly carved and ornamented. Stepwells may include entrance pavilions, multiple storeys of pillared halls, pools at the lowest level, and facilities such as water channels, cisterns, and bathing areas, making them both functional and highly decorative monuments.

In India, stepwells were far more than utilitarian structures designed merely to access or store groundwater. As architecture flourished under royal patronage, rulers and kingdoms transformed this functional typology into monumental spaces of grandeur and meaning. The simple act of descending to water was reimagined as a spatial and experiential journey, deeply connected to spiritual, cultural, and social life. Through elaborate ornamentation and carefully articulated spaces, stepwells accommodated rituals of washing, immersion (visarjan), religious practices, and communal festivals such as Holi and Diwali, while also serving as places frequented by royal women, including queens. In the Indian architectural tradition, ornamentation was not superficial embellishment but a vital record of history, acting as a living skin that preserved narratives, beliefs, and collective memory within stone. Ornamentation becomes an identity that distinguishes characters of the builders and the ruling dynasties. 

Rani ki Vav (11th century), built under the Solanki (Chalukya) dynasty, exemplifies the Maru-Gurjara style and is conceived as an “inverted temple,” with each descending level articulated as a sacred shrine. Adalaj ki Vav (15th century), commissioned by Queen Rudabai during the Vaghela period, reflects an Indo-Islamic synthesis, combining traditional Hindu motifs with geometric and floral patterns.Rani ki Vav is a Nanda-type stepwell with a single entrance, monumental in scale, descending seven levels to a depth of approximately 28 metres in a strictly rectangular plan. In contrast, Adalaj ki Vav is a Jaya-type with three entrances and a more compact form of five levels. Its distinctive octagonal galleries surrounding a circular well shaft create a dynamic interplay of light and shadow.

Rani ki Vav is  dedicated to Lord Vishnu and his Dashavatara, featuring over 1,500 finely carved, high-relief sculptures that establish it as one of the most richly ornamented monuments in India. Adalaj ki Vav adopts a more syncretic vocabulary, depicting Hindu deities alongside secular scenes of daily life, dancers, and musicians, while emphasizing floral and geometric ornamentation. Its aesthetic strength lies in structural rhythm and the elegance of its carved pillars rather than sculptural density.

Gujarati stepwells (vavs) and Hampi Pushkarinis represent distinct regional approaches to water architecture in India. Stepwells of Gujarat, such as Rani ki Vav and Adalaj ki Vav, are deep, linear, subterranean structures that guide movement downward through a sequence of stepped corridors and pavilion-like spaces. Conceived as “inverted temples,” they emphasize monumentality, rich sculptural ornamentation, and symbolic narratives, transforming access to water into a spiritual and social experience. 

In contrast, Pushkarinis of Hampi, built during the Vijayanagara period, are shallow, open-to-sky stepped tanks organized around precise geometric forms. Constructed in granite, they rely on proportion, repetition, and horizontality rather than ornament. While Gujarati vavs functioned as multifunctional civic and ceremonial spaces, Pushkarinis were primarily associated with temple rituals and purification practices. Together, these typologies reveal how climate, material, and cultural context shaped diverse architectural expressions of sacred water in India.

The stepped water tanks (Pushkarinis) of Hampi find a contemporary reinterpretation in Charles Correa’s Surya Kund at the Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur. Both employ a sunken, stepped geometry that organizes space through descent rather than enclosure, emphasizing horizontality, proportion, and the experiential movement of the body.

In Hampi, the Pushkarini is an open, ritual landscape , defined by repetitive granite steps, geometric clarity, and direct engagement with sky, light, and water. Similarly, Correa’s Surya Kund uses stepped terraces to create a sunken courtyard that functions as a climatic modifier, social space, and symbolic void. Ornamentation is minimal in both; meaning is generated through geometry, light, shadow, and scale rather than surface decoration.Crucially, Correa abstracts the idea of the sacred tank , not as a literal water structure, but as a cosmic and climatic device, echoing the traditional Indian understanding of water, sun, and earth as spatial generators. The Surya Kund thus operates as a modern pushkarini, translating vernacular wisdom into contemporary architectural language.

In such architectural traditions, ornamentation is not applied but derived from its cultural, material, and spatial origins. Every carving and articulated element is embedded with intent, merging seamlessly with the stone to shape both perception and use. Ornament here operates as structure, memory, and mediator, influencing how dwellers inhabit and move through space. Architecture is thus experienced kinetically, steps, pavilions, jharokhas, and chajjas provide movement, pause, and interaction rather than serving as isolated formal devices.

Through their thickness and articulation, architectural elements generate affordances in the sense described by J. J. Gibson , inviting multiple forms of occupation and use beyond their primary function. A step does not merely provide seating but affords ritual, washing, performance, gathering, and festivity. These affordances allow the architecture to remain relevant across time, adapting from imperial patronage to contemporary everyday life.

This approach resonates strongly with Charles Correa’s interpretation of traditional Indian space, where form emerges from climate, ritual, and collective life rather than stylistic imitation. Ornamentation becomes a living skin , one that weathers, breathes, and endures , preserving cultural essence while accommodating evolving programs. In this way, architecture sustains continuity through change, carrying forward memory while remaining open to modern inhabitation.