After “The Function of Ornament
The book is the result of a series of seminars Moussavi taught over 2 years at the GSD, and in over 500 pages it describes the most common material systems and its sub-systems: Grids and Frames, Vaults, Domes, Folded Plates, Shells, Tensile Membranes and Pneumatic Membranes.
Each of these systems are presented first on its most basic unit, which is then tessellated into three directions (horizontal, vertical, curved) exploring the full potential of these combinations, either trough completed buildings, proposals or just proposed structures by the author and her team.
For example, the Diagrid (interconnected support beams that form a diagonal grid) one of the systems included in the book, starts with the basic unit (as seen on a photo below) with a description of the forces and how flexible the system is in terms of scale, angles, depth, profile, etc. Then, it is described in its horizontal tessellations exemplified through the Smithsonian Reynolds Center for American Art by Foster + Partners, the Milan Fair Center by Fuksas, or the Great Court at the British Museum by F+P. On the vertical, we have 30st Mary Axe by F+P, the Hearst Tower by F+P, the Lotte Super Tower Hotel by SOM, Elisabeth House by FOA and even the Glass Pavilion by Bruno Taut, among others. Every example has very good drawings and explanations (see photos below).
Also, the matrix incorporates affect, defined by Deleuze “as the pre-personal intensities transmitted by forms”, ranging from freedom to centrality, and other several terms that further extend our conception of these systems.
This exercise, starting from the basic unit and then expanded according to its possibilities, repeated in a rigorous matrix for all the systems, makes this book 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.
More info after the break.
“In The Function of Form, internationally acclaimed architect, Farshid Moussavi, provides a provocative critique of the historically opposing relationship between function and form to reveal the contradiction at the heart of modernism. We need to move away from the definition of function as utility, she argues, to align it with how function is defined in mathematics, biology or music. Form, on the other hand, should be considered not only in the way buildings are produced, but also how they perform sensorially. Function and form, considered together in architecture, stand in opposition to the dualism which defined our approach to the built environment throughout the twentieth century. This book provides a thought-provoking account of the challenges facing the 21st century built environment, and an enlivened awareness of the wider possibilities of architectural form.”
- Actar
Publisher: Actar and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Author: Farshid Moussavi
Editors: Daniel López, Garrick Ambrose, Ben Fortunato, Ryan Ludwig, Ahmadreza Schricker
Language: English
Cover: Hard Plastic
Pages: 502
Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.8 x 1.6 inches
ISBN: 978-8496954731
Index
Acknowledgements
The Function of Form
Afterword
Glossary
Matrix
Systems
Grids and Frames
One-Way Frame
Two-Way Frame
Diagrid
Grid-Slab Frame
Double-Layer Grid
Vaults
Barrel Vault
Cross Vault
Complex Rib Vault
Fan Vault
Curved Rib Vault
Cellular Vault
Domes
Surface Dome
Ribbed Dome
Stacked Arch Dome
Yazdi-Bandi Dome
Kar-Bandi Dome
Kaseh-Sazi Dome
Muqarnas Dome
Folded Plates
Folded Plate
Folded Plate and Truss
Shells
Conical Shell
Umbrella Column Shell
Hyper Curved Shell
Tensile Membranes
Parallel Cable Tensile Membrane
Radial Cable Tensile Membrane
Pneumatic Membranes
Air Supported Pneumatic Membrane
Inflated Beam Pneumatic Membrane
Buy this book
