Function
Related: bodily function - work - meaning
Compare: gratuitous (without function)
Definition
In common parlance, function is a role of a component in an assembly, or of an element in a systemic aggregate (such as a person within a group). --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function [Feb 2006]Form follows function
Form follows function is a slogan and principle of Modern architecture and design, including specifically:
- Adolf Loos
- The Bauhaus
- The Prairie Houses
- Horatio Greenough
- Louis Sullivan
- The Modernist Movement
It is meant to suggest that architecture and design should let the physical characteristics necessary to creating a structure dominate in its appearance, rather than elaborating and decorating.
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_follows_function [Mar 2005]
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern architecture. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functionalism_%28architecture%29 [Feb 2006]
Form follows function or does it?: Modernist design theory and the history of art (1984) - H. W Janson
Form follows function or does it?: Modernist design theory and the history of art (1984) - H. W Janson [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
The dictum form follows function has been seen, by partisans and critics alike, as the gist of the functionalist philosophy of design. The aim of this essay is to shed light on this still enigmatic precept, and, at the same time, on the nature of modernism in architecture and design. The key question pertaining to the dictum is simple: has the dictum been really feasible as a design precept? Or, to put it differently: can the modernist architecture and design as we know it be said to be the result of this design principle? The answer of the exponents of modernism was a victorious and unequivocal 'yes'. They claimed that this new architecture and design were not a result of stylistic intentions, but of the new anti-formalist precept. This claim has posed a problem, however. If we happen to accept such understanding, our discussions and our writing regarding modernist architecture and design will almost unavoidably be reduced to repeating, or at best embellishing upon, what modernists have said about their pursuits. If we, on the other hand, suspect, that their design precept was not feasible, our reading of their architecture and design will be necessarily very different. --The modernist notion of function as a carte blanche, Jan MICHL via http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2360/jm-eng.fff-hai.html [Feb 2006]
Also from that site/article:
MOTTO: "Dear Theo, Will life never treat me decently? I am wracked by despair! My head is pounding! Mrs. Sol Schwimmer is suing me because I made her bridge as I felt it and not to fit her ridiculous mouth! That's right! I can't work to order like a common tradesman! I decided her bridge should be enormous and billowing, with wild, explosive teeth flaring up in every direction like fire! Now she is upset because it won't fit in her mouth! She is so bourgeois and stupid, I want to smash her! I tried forcing the false plate in but it sticks out like a star burst chandelier. Still, I find it beautiful. She claims she can't chew! What do I care whether she can chew or not! Theo, I can't go on like this much longer! (...) - Vincent" -- From Woody Allen's “If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists: A fantasy exploring the transposition of temperament."
See also: form - function - design
your Amazon recommendations