Form Follows Function

The First Skyscraper

Bath Abbey

Architects tend to focus on two major aspects of Architecture—functionality and form/beauty of a building. But which is more important? The first picture shows The First Skyscraper that was built in Chicago which demonstrates how the functionality of a building became dominant over the aesthetics or ‘the form and beauty of a structure’ in architecture. On the other hand, the second picture shows the Gothic Cathedral which indicates how our ancestors focused more on ornamentation than structural innovation. Gothic Architecture began mainly in France, where architects were inspired by Romanesque Architecture and the pointed arches of Spanish Moorish Architecture. It’s easy to recognize these buildings due to the pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, elaborate sculptures and stained glass windows. Our ancestors focused on the aesthetics of a building. It was believed that the structural design was determined to bring sunshine into people’s lives and thus they focused on the ‘form or beauty’ of a building.

In contrast, modernist architects completely discarded the idea of paying more attention to aesthetics in architecture. They strictly followed the statement coined by an American Architect, Louis Sullivan: Form Follows Function. In principle, this meant that buildings should be designed so that the essential structure dictated the form. The other architects of the early twentieth century also supported the idea. Adolf Loos, a Viennese architect believed that the decoration of functional objects was inefficient and wasteful. His manifesto ‘Ornament and Crime’ became a key modernist text, in which he argued that avoiding ornament was ‘a sign of spiritual strength’. The two architects taught the upcoming generation of architects to reject historical orthodoxies and adopt the innovative new ideologies of modern industry. This is the reason why the students in the modernist school of architecture are expected to design a building only after they know the purpose of why it’s going to occupy that vacant space. Modernism is economical in a way that we have to use less resources during a building’s construction since we follow simplicity and clarity and eliminate all the ‘unnecessary details’. One can call it ‘machine aesthetic’. Modernism grew with the industrial revolution and adopted steel, iron, steel glass as the main building materials.

Modernism

The buildings look really fascinating to us in terms of how tall they are. Unfortunately, there are no aesthetics present here. It’s only based on functionality, clarity and simplicity. This was called ‘International Style.’ According to some architects, it was a complete disaster! Many architects criti-  cized the idea of working this way. It was economical but destroyed the aesthetics, the architecture that we see portrayed in our ancient buildings. Famous architects such as Zaha Hadid and Terry Farrell did not support modernism. They believed that there should be a balance between aesthetics and functionality so that neither our resources are wasted nor our aesthetics are destroyed. Zaha Hadid designed the most enticing and alluring buildings such as Heydar Aliyev Center.

Heydar Aliyev Center

In the picture above, can you see those buildings in the background? Isn’t her building far more appealing? This structure is an example of how her approach was different from Modernism. She decided to follow Post-Modernism. Though she was criticized by the modernists, she continued to inspire people and put her views forward to the college students. She was the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker award for her novel approach. After all, “There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?”