The Contradiction Between Form and Function in Architecture

Continuing the themes which have been addressed in The Humanities in Architectural Designand The Cultural Role of Architecture, this book illustrates the important role that a contradiction between form and function plays in compositional strategies in architecture. The contradiction between form and function is seen as a device for poetic expression, for the expression of ideas, in architecture. The role of the terms "form" (shape, outline, visual appearance), and "function" (structure, program, use), are analyzed throughout the history of architecture and architectural theory, from Vitruvius to the present, with particular emphasis on twentieth-century functionalism. Historical examples are given from ancient, classical, Islamic, Christian, Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, Mannerist, and Neoclassical architecture, and from movements in the twentieth century (Chicago School, Structural Rationalism, Art Nouveau, De Stijl, International Style, Postmodernism, Deconstructivism) to the present (Bioconstructivism). Philosophical issues such as eidos versus morphe, natura naturans, Scholastic method, lineamenti, disegno interno, a priori intuition, uitbeelding and afbeelding, Vorstellung, the signifier and signified, différance, dream construction, deep structure and surface structure, apperception, topology theory, self-generation, and immanence, are explored in relation to the compositions and writings of architects throughout history. This book contributes to the project of re-establishing architecture as a humanistic discipline, to re-establish an emphasis on the expression of ideas, and on the ethical role of architecture to engage the intellect of the observer and to represent human identity.