Form and Function

Stage 1 Lecture

Contextual and Critical StudiesAndrea Peach

Modernism

Dominant ideology throughout western industrialised world in art, design and architecture for most of the twentieth century

How things used to look …

Adolf Loos 1928

Essay on Ornament and Crime:

“Evolution is synonymous with the removal of ornament from objects of everyday use”

Adolf Loos 1901

Armoire - Vienna, Austria

“A plain piece of furniture is more beautiful than all the inlaid and carved museum pieces”

Adolf Loos 1928

Steiner House - Vienna, Austria

Louis Sullivan 1896

“It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and things superhuman… that form ever follows function, This is the law …”

Form and FunctionLouis Sullivan1896

“Form and function are one …”

Guarantee Building, Buffalo New York, 1895

Modernism

USE should determine the FORM of an object

If an object is made to function well it will by definition be beautiful(also referred to as Functionalism)

Rules of Modernist Design

Objects should be:• simple, honest and direct• Well adapted to their purpose• No ornament

Rules of Modernist Design• Standardised• Machine-made• Reasonably priced• Expressive of their structure and materials

Marcel Breuer 1926

Nickel-plated steel and lacquered wood

Nesting TablesGermany

Mies van der Rohe 1927

Chrome-plated tubular steel, oil cloth

Cantilever ChairGermany

Howell ‘Chromasteel’ USA

1946“Here is gay, sparkling furniture that brings new beauty and charm into your kitchen … it’s the kind that seems to stay new looking indefinitely”

Greta von Nessen 1952

Aluminum and enameled metal

‘Anywhere lamp’Germany

Ocean - Bianco Table / Gamma Chairs - chromed tubular steel frame

2006 …

Modernism

A term used to refer to the principle that nothing is included in a design that does not enhance the object’s purpose

Marianne Brandt 1924

Tea infuserGermany, Bauhaus

Deutscher Werkbund 1929Die Form =

The Form

Die Wohnung Stuttgart 1927

Weissenhof Seidlung 1927

Mies van der Rohe

Walter Gropius / Marcel Breuer

Giso lights 1928RotterdamThe Netherlands

Machine Age 1920s

“Machines are replacing hand work; the spheres are smooth; the cylinders have the kind of precision only attainable in theory: without fuss, the machine produces surfaces which are faultless.”

Machine Age 1920s

Russian Constructivist printed textile

Marcel Breuer 1931

“This metal furniture is intended to be nothing but a necessary apparatus for contemporary life”

Le Corbusier 1929

“Metal plays the same part in furniture as cement has done in architecture. It is a revolution.”

John Gloag 1929

“Metal is cold and brutally hard... It gives no comfort to the eye”

“Modern carpet designs may provide endless entertainment for your friends”

Heath Robinson 1936

“De Staalstoelophoon”1934

Functionalism, Yes, But.

The Titanic - PhotomontageStanley Tigerman, 1978, USA

Alessandro Mendini 1978

“Redesign of Modern Movement Chairs” Wassily by Breuer, Italy

1925

Functionalism, Yes ...

Mies van der RoheBarcelona Chair 1929

Functionalism, Yes ...

21st century

1929

Functionalist DesignGeorge MarcusPrestel 1995

Form Follows FunctionSusan LambertV&A Museum 1993