Functionalist architecture is an architectural school, which believes that the form of architecture should obey its function. Since ancient times, many buildings have paid attention to function. However, in the late19th century, some architects in Europe and America opposed the academic design idea of pursuing form and neglecting function, explored the road of new architecture and highlighted the function of architecture.

architectural feature

In the 1980s and 1990s, Sullivan, an architect of Chicago School, advocated the slogan "Form follows function", arguing that "function remains unchanged, so does form". Sullivan divided the shape of his high-rise office building into three sections according to the functional characteristics: the first floor and the second floor have similar functions, the upper floors are offices, and the top equipment floor is sections, which became a typical high-rise office building at that time.

Sullivan believes that architectural design should be from the inside out and must reflect the consistency of architectural form and function. This is completely different from the design thought of the academic school at that time, which advocated traditional style and ignored functional characteristics. Later, representatives of modernist architecture, such as le corbusier, emphasized that meeting functional requirements was the primary task of architectural design.

The development of history

With the development of modernist architectural movement, functionalism was all the rage in the 1920s and 1930s. Originally, emphasizing the function of architecture was one of the important viewpoints of modernist architectural movement, but later some people regarded it as an absolute creed and called it "functionalism". They believe that not only the architectural form must reflect the function and express the function, but also the architectural plane layout and spatial combination must be based on the function, and all components with different functions should be displayed separately.

For example, columns and beams as building structures should be clearly visible, both inside and outside the building, clearly showing the function of the frame supporting the floor and roof.

Functionalists praise machine aesthetics. They think that the machine is an "organism", which is different from other geometric forms. It contains internal functions and embodies the beauty of the times. Therefore, some people compare architecture with cars and airplanes, and think that functional architecture is a beautiful building, and its geometric shape can show beautiful shapes in the sun. They believe that functionalism will automatically produce the most beautiful forms.

In the 1920s and 1930s, another functionalist appeared, mainly some builders and engineers. They think that economically "affordable" buildings are functional buildings, which will automatically produce beautiful forms. These extreme ideas rule out the artistic laws of architecture itself and will only cause confusion to functionalism itself.

After 1950s, functionalism gradually disappeared, and even le corbusier, who emphasized the architectural function, parted ways with functionalists. But there is no doubt that functionalism has played an important role in promoting the development of modern architecture from the beginning.

For more information about project/service/procurement bidding, and to improve the winning rate, please click on the bottom of official website Customer Service for free consultation:/#/? source=bdzd