Functionalism

Functionalism 

There is many concepts of how buildings should be built. All of them go to the result which says – architects should design a building with its meaning or, in other words, based on the purpose of that space. According to Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier architecture is art only when it is functional for users.

When you start thinking about space, everyone needs to understand, what is this place for, what people will come here and why. In libraries it is important to organize storage for books and working area, in concert hall you need to hear music and see properly what is happening on the scene. That means every place has its own demands. Room planning, colors, physic laws and many other things are helping to implement these requirements. 

The other related to the topic popular aphorism of Le Corbusier is “ To create an architecture is to put in order. Put in order what? Function and objects”. It is not just you have to put all things with its function but, moreover, they should be located in the right place and proper order.

The history of this way of thinking begins when American architect Louis Sullivan coined his well-known maxim ” Form ever follows function.”. That's how he wast trying to interpret that size, massing and many other characteristics need to be chosen according to the function of the building . The connotation of Le Corbusier was also trying to express that if all functional aspects are satisfied, beauty and impression in architecture will naturally and necessarily appear.

The functionalism is related mostly to modern architecture. Nowadays it is also seen as the eradication of ornament in favor of austere beauty of the industrial aesthetic. It had big influence in many countries, especially, in Germany, Czechoslovakia and Netherlands. Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier and German architect Mies Van der Rohe, who was also functionalist, were doing projects which are lying in the roots of modern architecture. After seeing them admiring and creating new style which the main idea was functionalism, many got much excited about this new method of organizing space in architecture. Functionalism was a dominant architectonic style in former Czechoslovakia in the period of 1935-1970.

Mies Van der Rohe was trying to create a new type in architecture where he saw building by ”skin and bones”. Here are some of his most pivotal projects ”Barcelona Pavilion” and ”Villa Tugenhat”; in them and many other works he was trying to express functionalism and his dictum ”less is more” that became very well-known in architectural world.

 German school of art Bauhaus was founded initially by architect Walter Gropius in 1919. The word Bauhaus came from the word ”hausbau” meaning construction. It was identified with functionalism as it was built during those times and one of its directors was Mies Van der Rohe. The word ” functionalism” became the slogan for this school. The objects which were designed there were believed not to only fit their purpose but also to be right for human eye.