FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION

Introduction-
The architect Louis Sullivan coined the principle of design- “form follows function” in his 1896 essay
"The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered." The main idea behind this statement was that the
exterior of a building should reflect the activities that take place in the interiors, meaning that the
purpose of a building should be the starting point for its design. This principle became the touchstone
for many architects.

Body-
When it comes to the argument of form follows function or vice versa, one could say that form follows
function is nature's law itself. Sullivan said that "All things in nature have a shape, that is to say, a form,
an outward semblance, that tells us what they are, that distinguishes them from ourselves and from each
other." That these shapes "express the inner life" of the thing is a law of nature, which should be
followed in any organic architecture. Evolution is an excellent example of this wherein we can see that
the form of humans has changed throughout history to better suit their function. Primate versions of
humans had tails which perished a long time ago as they no longer served any purpose, and while apes
and monkeys have shorter thumbs and longer fingers human hands have evolved to have elongated
thumbs and shorter fingers for precious grasping. These changes are not based in aesthetics, evolution
depended on the function something served rather than how something looked.
To make a cohesive argument about this principle on a scale as large as buildings, we should start off
by looking at simple industrial designs. One such example is that of a chair. When looking at chair
designs, all of them serve the basic function of providing seating, it is the designer’s further innovation
which causes the design to develop further. We can see an array of chair designs, from plastic lawn
chairs to desk chairs, but all of them fulfil the same basic function of providing seating. To further delve
into this topic we must step out of individual examples of architectural building. One can see the same
principle in application when looking at common elements in day-to-day building. A very good example
of this is the use of ramps in spaces such as hospitals. It was the function which is to enable easy
transition between spaces for people on wheelchairs that led to the formation of such a design.
Looking at this through an architectural lens, if you do not predetermine a function to a form there is a
possibility of being lost when it comes to the design process itself. Functionalism is a theory in
architecture which states that the building should be designed according to its function, this concept
looks towards building a better built space for the people occupying the space. This tells us that external
features such as ornamentation and decorations can wait for later, these can be looked upon when the
structure itself has a defined purpose. Looking at just the form narrows our view to only the appearance
of the structure which might lead to wasting money and resources on unneeded ornamentation.
The Guggenheim Museum is a good example of Wright’s application of the principle. An elevator takes
the visitor to the top of the spiral shape. This spiral was intended to allow visitors to easily view the
artwork and the people within. It allows the visitors to flow through the museum giving an uninterrupted
view of everything that is on display. It was the function, being that the people should be incorporated
in an all-sensory viewing of the artwork that caused Wright to make the museum in such an
unconventional yet functional manner. Up to the very end of his life, Wright carried on a battle to be
sure that the Guggenheim embodied his belief in the unity of form and function. On July 15, 1958, less
than a year before his death, he wrote a letter that underscored the connection between his design for
the Guggenheim and the paintings it would exhibit. “Yes, it is hard…to understand a struggle for
harmony and unity between the painting and the building. No, it is not to subjugate the paintings to the
building that I conceived this plan. On the contrary, it was to make the building and the painting a
beautiful symphony such as never existed in the world of Art before.” Another architectural example
of this is Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. He designed the pavilion in a minimalistic
style that is devoid of any ornamentation or decoration to deliver the importance of functional elements
in a space and reveal the ‘true essence of architecture’. The free plan with the fewer walls and the
openness of the spaces blurs the boundary between interior spaces and the exterior. He incorporated
functionalism in the form of views as to what the human eye would see within this pavilion, to give a
visual experience to the users in this pavilion.
Even Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye represents a machine-like structure to acknowledge the technological
innovation of the time. Clean lines and minimalism were used instead of decorating and ornamentation.
The building was designed only to fulfil the needs of the user because Corbusier followed the idea of
form follows function.
Conclusion-
Architecture is a visual reflection of space which is created and the function it serves. The function of
a space is the priority in the design process. It gives us a primary focus which will always drive the
design process further.