Architecture: Form or Function?

- Learn about trends in modern architecture

Does form follow function? A surprising study:

When you look at the outside of a building, can you tell whether it is an art museum, or a library, or a theater? Most people can't.

A recent study show that many modern public buildings no longer follow the famous rule in architecture: form follows function. The idea behind this rule is that people should be able to understand the purpose of a building, its function, from the way it looks, its form.

In the study, people in three countries - the United States, Canada, and Japan - were shown photographs of city halls, theaters, libraries and art museums. The researcher asked the people to name the purpose of each building in the photograph. Surprisingly, people in the study correctly only 32% of the time. This shows that for many modern buildings, including the towering skyscraper, form does not follow function.

"The form of building shows its meaning" said researcher Jack Nasar, who worked with Professor Kazunori Hanyu from Japan to conduct the study. "So it makes sense that architects design building to indicate their use. But our results suggest it doesn't often happen." In other words, people don't always know if the building is designed for shelter (chổ nương tựa), for work, or for cultural activities.

The researchers in the study believe that when buildings clearly show their purpose, visitors can more easily find their way, and city life is more comfortable and understandable for everyone. Some architects today are more interested in designing buildings to catch our attention than to tell people what goes on inside. Nasar and his team disagree with this idea: "You should be able to look at a building and have a good idea about what happens inside."

What does "form follows function" mean?

Why did the researchers show photographs of different building to people? What was the result?
Why do the researchers believe that form should follow function?

Louis Sullivan:
Sullivan believed that celebrate form follows function.
Sullivan believed that things ahead of anyone else.
Sullivan thought of its height.

Sullivan had all these really new ideas: For example, one of his idea was the way he thought about ... and the way he designed, ... skyscrapers. He believed that the skyscraper should celebrate and show off its height. He means that the skyscraper should be tall and also be decorated with lots of attractive shapes.

Practice Lecture:

Talk about a very important person who really influenced modern architecture, and that's Louis Sullivan. Most people who have studied architecture know something about him.
I'm going to cover some of the bid ideas we got from Louis Sullivan because he's going to be very important to us in this class.
A little background. Sullivan was born in Boston but soon moved to Chicago in 1873, and that's important because many of Sullivan'g great buildings are in Chicago.

Sullivan had many ideas about skyscrapers:
(the thing you should know about Sullivan, he was a true visionary ... By visionary, I mean someone who has the ability to imagine things for the future. He thought of things before anyone else.)
- Sullivan had all these really new ideas about (for example) the way to design skyscrapers. He believed that the skyscraper could ... should celebrate and show off its height. So what I mean is, it should be tall and also be decorated with lots of attractive shapes, like plant shapes [dáng đứng], and other pretty decorations. They should not be just a tall, plain box.
- Sullivan is most famous for one particular idea. He said that, in architecture, form follows function (let me repeat that). So the purpose of a building should help the architect create the design of the building. You get the picture? The building should look like what it is, what its purpose is.

Lecture:
We begin our discussion of modern architecture, and this afternoon I'll be discussing a very general concept that is important for our understanding of modern architecture.
Now, as I discuss this concept, I'm going to give you a little background on modern architecture. Then later, I'll move on to focus on one giant architect of our times, and that's Frank Gehry.

- First, let me give you a tiny little bit of background on modern architecture. Now, we all know that a building does more than simply give us shelter. We can all think of some buildings that are just really beautiful, or really interesting. So, this tells us that sometimes architecture can also be well art.
Let me explain what I mean.
Let's take a look at these famous buildings just go to get an idea:

   Here's a building by the famous architect Antoni Gaudi. It's an apartment building, (from our point of view today), it certainly is more than just a shelter for people. It's also very pleasing to the eye, it's very fun to look at. It's truly a work of art. Isn't it fabulous? (adj-thần thoại)

   Now, here's the tallest building in the word right now. It's a skyscraper in Taiwan, called Taipei 101. Most people who see this building love it, not only because it's an office building, and not only because it's so tall. It's also incredibly (adv) beautiful. Don't you think so?

This is an important point: that architecture has a purpose, but it's also something that can be very beautiful at the same time. It can please the eye.

- (Question) All right. This brings me to the key concept for today (in modern architecture), so let's say architecture from 1990 to the present, there's been this big question: What is the relationship between a building's form and its function? This was the question asked by the world-famous American architect named Louis Sullivan.

Sullivan believed quite strongly the form follows function. But what was Sullivan's point? _Well, Sullivan wanted to say that the purpose of a building should tell the architect how to design the building. And consequently, people should be able to know what its purpose was just by looking at it.

So, most architects agreed with Sullivan and followed his idea .... this for the next several decades.

- Now, I want to move on the show you how architects have changed their attitude about form and function. This is very interesting. In the last 25 years, many famous architects have ignored what Sullivan said. They've chosen to go against the idea that form follows function. And they've built some fantastic buildings.

This leads us to my favorite modern architect, and he's very famous for not believing that form follows function. His name is Frank Gehry.

Let me show you his most famous design:
   + This is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, in Spain. It's a very well-known museum. There's famous art inside (paintings and statues inside), but do you think this looks like a museum? No, I don't think so: Take a look at these curves (n-đường cong), these round shapes ... (Gehry designed this), so there are no real corners, no straight lines. it looks like a ship. And it's on the water, as you can see.
=> So, when people visit the museum, what do they notice?_They notice the shiny curves, the reflection of the water, but they might not immediately think. "Ah-ha! This is a museum."
=> So what I'm trying to show you here is that: There is very little connection between the form of the building and the purpose of the building. (to show the art to people. It's an art museum, but it doesn't really look like one.)

   + Let's analyze another Frank Gehry building. Here it is. This building is very playful (adj-khôi hài), very fun, and it really catches the eye. but I have a surprise for you. This is actually the computer science research center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (the most famous university for science and technology in the world). So it's a very serious place.
=> So again, we see Frank Gehry making a kind of game out of the whole form and function idea. He's being ironc (mỉa mai, châm biếm), meaning he's actually doing the opposite of what he claims to be doing - designing a building for a serious purpose. You could say, he's really twisted the form and function idea. And he's had a lot of fun along the way. This place is really crazy.