form follows function
so as the lonely little guy over in the creative cube. (i like to think of myself as a designer) i often ponder the meaning of design, how it should function in society, and how it should be used. the phrase that ends up in my head most often is “form follows function.”
the phrase was popularized by Louis Sullivan who is considered the father of the modern movement in design. it is a simple statement that makes sense. i can’t think of an argument that would disprove it. the look and feel of an object (or its form) should be directly informed by its purpose (or function).
that being said, take a look at this.
this apartment is a home to someone, therefore it conforms to the basic attributes of a home, there are walls, doors, furniture, power, etc. but the owners of this particular home have imposed a new function upon the home. that is to provide them with the best possible view of their surroundings.
therefore, the conventions that we normally attribute to a home have been altered slightly. first, one entire wall was converted to floor to ceiling windows. this may cause some issues with temperature control, but being that that was not the main concern of the homeowners it does not break the form follows function directive. also, everything in their home (with a few visible exceptions) is white or clear. this allows the view (or more accurately, the colors contained within the view) to be the only thing for the eye to focus on. i would be interested to know if they had given any thought to black as i would think that the white could possibly obstruct the view by reflecting any light into the viewer’s eyes. i guess they would then have to worry about walking around at night, and not being able to see anything. they have probably done more than enough research.
so the bottom line is that design is continually is informed by what you need it to accomplish. and that form truly does follow function.