The Function of Form [Paperback]

Farshid Moussavi (Author), Daniel Lopez (Editor), Garrick Ambrose (Editor), Ben Fortunato (Editor), Ryan R. Ludwig (Editor), Ahmadreza Schricker (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 30, 2009

The Function of Form explores the production of singular affects through systems that relate form and content. This is an essential graphic manual on structural systems and their capacity to produce a variety of forms. Extracting their base geometric unit, a wide range of historical projects from the Medieval to the present are used as systems to proliferate different forms. The book distinguishes tessellation from modulation as a type of flexible system for producing complex repetition through diverse parts. The research presented aims to move architectural experiments away from 'mechanistic' notions of systems for re-producing forms, to 'machinic' notions of systems that determine how parts of an architectural problem interrelate and multiply. This open nature of transversal systems leads to new actualized forms and novel affects.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A must-have for any designer, The Function of Form makes for a tremendous resource as a reference when investigating possible forms/structural systems for a given project - allowing readers to quickly compare spatial quality and affects of various systems, while also providing reasonably in-depth explanations as to how these qualities are achieved by the different systems." --AMNP

"Here is one (book) that is thoughful, useful, and only incidentally related to Ms. Moussavi's practice. Yet it is about architecture. The book is ostensibly a survey of distinct structural spanning systems, all of which contain repetitive structural members and variations on their arrangement, scale, or shape." --Tropolism

"A thought-provoking account of the challenges facing the 21st century built environment, and an enlivened awareness of the wider possibilities of architectural form." --Archidose

"...this book (is) a valuable resource for almost everyone: from students, to architects who need to deal with a structure in early stages of design, up to someone dealing with parametric tools for complex structures, because at the end the systems are the same: from Bruno Taut to SOM, to FOA." --ArchDaily

"The Function of Form is a 'must' for any serious college-level arts collection. It proposes a new theory of form based on repetition and differentiation, offering a way for function in built forms to be conceptualized as a transversal process. Architecture and arts libraries will find this a technical, comprehensive analysis of the parts of forms that interact and reciprocate, going beyond text to pack pages with finished designs offset by pages of diagrams and explanations." --The Midwest Book Review

"The book is ideal for students, as it enables them to discover how subtle differences in the manipulation of structure impact the spaces, articulated as the affects noted for each entry." ----Archidose

"Using real life examples from the ancient to the contemporary, Moussavi reduces a building to its most basic components. Then, after the striptease, she dresses the structure back up with every possible variation, starting with the simple and austere before layering on fabulous flourishes." ----Interior Design

About the Author

Farshid Moussavi is Professor in Practice in the Department of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She trained at the GSD, University College London, the Bartlett School of Architecture, and Dundee University. Prior to establishing Foreign Office Architects (with Alejandro Zaera Polo) in London in 1992, she worked with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genoa and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam. Her London-based firm, FOA, is recognized as one of the most creative design firms in the world, deftly integrating architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture in their projects. They have produced numerous critically-acclaimed international projects, most notably the Yokohama Ferry Terminal. Other built projects include the Bluemoon Hotel in Groningen, The Netherlands, the Spanish Pavilion in the 2005 Aichi International Expo in Japan, a technology center in Logrono, a publisher's headquarters in Paju, Korea as well a department store and Cineplex and pedestrian bridges in Leicester.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Actar and Harvard Graduate School of Design; unknown edition (November 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8496954730
• ISBN-13: 978-8496954731
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,029 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars against all Odds, May 15, 2011

By 

Jorge - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Function of Form (Paperback)

about the book: it was a little dissapointing, many pictures but weak theory. still you have to meditate for a while on many aspects after come to some practical use. but it's useful. it's not a book for begginers.

I think with all the graphics you can easily feed your imagination.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, "The Function of Ornament" is better IMO, April 29, 2010

By 

Jesse Wetzel - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Function of Form (Paperback)

This is one of Moussavi's "The Function of ..." books, which are great books for students. I would personally recommend the "Ornament" installment. This book explains many (many) different structural solutions that mostly include arches and vaults and the almost infinite variations of them. Still a good book, maybe even a better book for engineers looking to get a broad overview than architects, but still a good book to have.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'must' for any serious college-level arts collection, January 18, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Function of Form (Paperback)

THE FUNCTION OF FORM is a 'must' for any serious college-level arts collection. It proposes a new theory of form based on repetition and differentiation, offering a way for function in built forms to be conceptualized as a transversal process. Architecture and arts libraries will find this a technical, comprehensive analysis of the parts of forms that interact and reciprocate, going beyond text to pack pages with finished designs offset by pages of diagrams and explanations.