Thursday Posting: Function

Role

“The Function of Buildings looks at the way in which the design of a building is informed by its function and the demands of climate.”

            -- RIBA architecture.com

Harper, Jennifer.  “In America, form no longer follows function; survey finds trend in architecture.”  The Washington Times.  29 November 2005, A09. 

In Jennifer Harper’s article she discusses how at one point in time form actually followed function in America’s public buildings, which revealed a building’s purpose and enhanced a sense of community.  However, according to Harper and research done by Ohio State University, that time is long gone.  Harper quotes Jack Nasar, an urban planner who directed the research done at Ohio State University.  According to Nasar, “if form follows function, then you should be able to look at a building and have a good idea of what goes on inside.”  Nasar believes that when citizens cannot “read” a building, “cities descend into impersonal, confusing places.”  If form were to follow function, Nasar states that “it should make life in the city more pleasurable and comfortable, and help people figure out where they are.”

This article interested me because in my work I am concentrating a lot on different types of buildings and architecture, and removing certain elements of the buildings that thereby disguises their primary function.  However, reading this article brought up an interesting fact that most of American architecture at the time is not designed around its specific function, giving most of the buildings we see an anonymous quality, with or without removing certain elements.