However, I think it is only to a certain degree that form should follow function; many architects have taken it to far in my opinion. For instance, when you make a hot dog stand look like a hot dog or a Chinese restaurant look like a take out container, I feel that this is a poor relationship between the two. You are just creating an aesthetic look that has a symbolic relationship to the purpose of the building, purely an aesthetic gimmick. A restaurant needs certain things like a kitchen, dinning area, an entrance, maybe a bar, designing around these items can be form follows function, from more of a scientific approach I guess, what does the restaurant want to be?
When we are talking about form follows function in relation to designing a home that works with its surroundings, for example with more glass on the southern facade, this is the realm I find extremely interesting and important. Here you are letting the function of the home do something that helps the home perform not just look appealing. To add to the design of the building, it would need a way to block the summer sun to keep the home cool; this could be done with surrounding vegetation or a shading device of some kind. This could be expressed to show the form and how it will function. I find this beauty and not a gimmick.
I don't think that form should necessarily follow function but that the design process should be a combination of both: form follows function and function follows form. If you only focus on form follows function, you are loosing the unique experience of the building. Every building would in a way be similar in that the arrangement of the inside spaces would always be predictable. That is not what you always want. Buildings are experiences, frames of space that should provide some kind of an experience. If you want your building to have the experience of a path for example (IST building), the most emphasis should be placed on creating that experience of the path. Only after deciding to place your focus on creating the building as a path should you look at "form follows function" and try and manipulate the building to best fit the function while maintaining the experience.
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