The purpose of this text is to discuss the notion of form follows function. To do so, I have selected two texts from which I will draw examples and from. The first is “Building Utopia” an extract from the book, Modernism: Designing a New World. The second text “The Function of Form” by Farshid Moussavi, taken from the book The Function of Form. I will compare the text discuss the texts and explain how they relate to a chosen object. The object in discussion will be The Barcelona Pavilion which is the work of Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, one of the pioneering architects in modern design.
The term “Form Follows Function” was first coined by Sarah Sullivan in the 19th century, modernist would later adopt the dictum in the twentieth century. For
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The author says that the building belonged to none of the traditional style. He notes the commonly used construction materials of this time would have included stone, brick and wood but these building did not use the same materials, instead they used a combination of steel, glass and concrete. The structures forms did not follow recognised architectural styles and their interiors were not divided by traditional rooms, they were open and spacious. The buildings were lacking in ornamentation or decoration which was unusual in comparison to the more avant garde styles of this time.
We know that the author is describing is the emergence of the modern approach to architecture and indeed, the modernist movement itself. The author discuss the modernist views that there was a real need for social reform. That society itself ought to be re-evaluated and re-shaped. Modernists believed that their “machine aesthetic” and ideas of mass production were the only way in which society could propel itself toward a more progressive
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The building was to to produced for the German Reich and was part of the international exhibition in 1929. Interestingly, before construction “neither mies nor his client had any idea what would actually be displayed in the pavilion, or what, if any, message it was supposed to convey”. Many modern architects had concerns as this meant that function was not dictating form, this was interesting to me as we see Mies somewhat bend his own rules of ornamentation. The is constructed using an 8 column grid. The grid is used to determine positiong of the the wall seperations and travertine pavers. The walls force a change of direction for the viewer which results in a new experience of space as the rooms themselves are not fully enclosed like traditional rooms had
The phrase “form ever follows function” was first introduced by Louis Sullivan “father of skyscrapers” which was an influential architect and critic, in his article The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered (1896) “Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling workhorse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law” (p 5). The principal for any design in any discipline is that form follows function; if an item must accomplish a certain function, then its design must aid that function to the fullest extent possible. But in our modern days most designs tend to favor form in almost all the disciplines prioritizing the appearance and neglecting the safety and the main function of the design or invention, those slipups can be seen in many of the famous industries, and that is what made them famous because beauty and appearance sells. Most designs efforts should focus on function rather than form because function is the rea...
It is the new decade after the end of world war two and modernism is a well-established practice. Its pioneers and spearheads are prevalent figures looming over the new architects and designers who are trying to make their mark in the shadows of such historically influential people. With new technologies and materials emerging from the world wars the next era of modernism had started to evolved, bringing with it philosophies and ideas which seemed far removed from those of the pioneers of modernism “What emerged in the late 1940s and 1950s was an expanding synthesis of questions utterly removed from the confident statements of the pioneers.”(Spade 1971,10) Two significant buildings were designed in the 50's, both of them for educational institutes and to house students of architecture, there were both designed in completely different styles and methods. The first is Ludwig Mies van der Rohes' Crown Hall, finished in 1956 and designed as a part of a campus master plan for the Illinois Institute of technology in Chicago. Mies' design for Crown Hall is one of his most realised expressio...
First and foremost are the architectural elements. These encompass the structural components that Chareau uses to emphasize the current site’s condition, the regularity of the grid used, the characteristics of the materials, the spatial alignment of the program, and so forth. The Maison de Verre would not have been designed the same way if it had been erected elsewhere. The same design principles would have been apparent, but there were extenuating circumstances that the client and the architect encountered at the site. The clients, Dr. and Mrs. Dalsace, inherited the building and the surrounding property from her father, and had the sole intention of tearing down the existing building and resurrecting a new, modern structure that would showcase Chareau’s furniture designs. (Vellay 63). The only thing stopping them was an elderly woman who lived on the second floor of the existing building who refused to leave her apartment (Frampto...
The piece I will be discussing is Eileen Gray’s ‘Villa E1027’. The piece is hugely influential in the architecture and design world. It was one of greys first architectural projects
In contrast, the architecture at the time represented wealth and stability, traditional enduring values. During this time, there was a lot of social change that came from science and philosophy. The kick from the Industrial Revolution accelerated the trend, even though ideas from the Gothic Style started it. Steam-powered sawmills could now create elaborate materials, cheaper and faster. As a result, houses became increasingly ornate. Lower income families could finally afford tr...
Christopher Alexander’s Notes on the Synthesis of Form provides a generalization of explaining design problems. The ultimate object of design is form, and
Modernism as a new contemporary style was seen as pure geometric forms having distinct structural systems, and a relationship with the new technological advancements caused by the Industrial Revolution. Throughout Mies van der Rohe’s career he was in pursuit to provide clarity, and evolve his architecture to convert the technical solution into an architectural expression. He exposed the structure to exploit all expressive effects, which lead Mies van der Rohe to become one of four Masters of Modern Architecture
...y this naturalistic area. The building is quite congruent in space, divided only by the only two entrances to the edifice. Circulation in this design is moderately simplistic due to the corresponding angles being completely identical. The symmetry is being used as an aesthetic element to express the calm environment it is supposed to be. This systematic expression can be found all throughout the structure. Whether it is the windows, the set of stairs and even the columns, the simplicity is being allocated.
However, the success of the building schemes relied on the construction methods and innovations that are now attributed as bei...
The process of the design of Simmons Hall has started from the year 1999 and was finished and built in 2002. It was designed half a century after Le Corbusier’s Unité d’habitation, which represents one of the most famous prototypical block housing assembly, both in Corbusier’s and in the 20th century’s creations. The buildings both represent how to gather great amount of people in singular uniform components. But not just the units and components themselves but also the intention was to use prefabricated and standardized materials in the construction. Both of the buildings are manifested as monolithic blocks embracing numerous of alterations, but still keeping and maintaining their original form of a block. The outer shell, the façade, in both cases is formulated as a web, network, but respecting the aspects such as natural lightning and ventilation. Also, creating a playfulness with adding variety of colors on the façade. But, what we find in both buildings is that they discover themes of idealism: in Unité, Le Corbusier is researching the theme of an idealized modern family, and in Simmons, Holl is developing the theme of students living and studying harmoniously. But, what is not visible at first sight is the manifestation of the celebration of the concrete form. The concrete is used in a very powerful and live sense, with building irregular and sculptural forms the architect’s aim is to give the space a more “organic” and undulating
The essence of modern architecture lays in a remarkable strives to reconcile the core principles of architectural design with rapid technological advancement and the modernization of society. However, it took “the form of numerous movements, schools of design, and architectural styles, some in tension with one another, and often equally defying such classification, to establish modernism as a distinctive architectural movement” (Robinson and Foell). Although, the narrower concept of modernism in architecture is broadly characterized by simplification of form and subtraction of ornament from the structure and theme of the building, meaning that the result of design should derive directly from its purpose; the visual expression of the structure, particularly the visual importance of the horizontal and vertical lines typical for the International Style modernism, the use of industrially-produced materials and adaptation of the machine aesthetic, as well as the truth to materials concept, meaning that the true nat...
The German Pavilion, more commonly known as the Barcelona Pavilion, is one of the most recognizable buildings of the modern period during the early 20th century. It encapsulates every element of modern architecture in one structure. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the fathers of modern architecture, was the architect of this beautiful building. In this essay I will explore how Mies impacted the modern movement in architecture through his groundbreaking ideas using the Barcelona Pavilion as a case study.
Le Corbusier’s Vers Une Architecture (Towards a New Architecture) is focused on the architectural qualities of “the machine”. He states that “the house is a machine for living in,” where the principles of architects should be to make the house suited for its purpose, as if it was a machine. This restates the argument that functionalism is more important than appearance, and that progress comes from architects abandoning the concept of traditional styles and decorative effects. Le Corbusier understood that architecture has nothing to do with various styles because functionality will always come before the subjectivity of appearance; he saw the aesthetic, not as just another style but the substance of architecture. In which he drew parallels
The book as a description of modern architecture, its styles and influence succeeds but falls short as a prescriptive methodology. His work is still recalled for the need by modernists to categorize everything into neat little boxes, not necessarily for the sake of uniformity, but for sake of some ambiguity. The ambiguity may be the triumph of this book as post modern architecture era is supposed to create more questions than the answers.
This case study is focused on the Shodhan House by Corbusier. Le Corbusier proved himself to be proficient in many areas. He had ambitious plans to create whole communities in his designs. He was even called the father of international style. As his style evolved, so did his buildings. The Shodhan House is an example of his purist design. There were many factors that contributed to the design of the Shodhan House, and many things had to be taken into consideration. Firstly, since the building was located in India, there were many considerations regarding weather that had to be taken into account. The owners wanted to stand out among their neighbours with an opulent design. Corbusier worked with this challenge by creating a double height ceiling and mezzanine which were design elements in many of the buildings in the area, but also exhibited the opulence of the owners. Corbusier made this building unique, but used elements common in many of his modernist designs. A flat roof (with garden), a parasol (to shade from the sun), an open facade, and the piers elevating the floor, and a ribbon window. These were the elements used in many of his designs and others.