Form follows function - Part I

Easter weekend was fun. My family and I spent a fantastic weekend in Philadelphia. Despite being one of the oldest cities in the US, I found the buildings in Philly very pleasant to look at. The entire city was laid out in a lovely grid pattern - and all the buildings seemed to be in pretty good shape despite their age.

However, Philly has some of the strangest collection of sculptures that I have ever seen in my life. The strangest of them perhaps being the Clothespin located bang opposite the lovely City Hall. Designed in 1976 by Claes Oldenburg, the Clothespin was apparently meant to be a jibe at the form of the City Hall tower also seen in the picture to the left..


There are so many other weird sculptures strewn all over the city as captured by a photographer here. I for one am really puzzled as to what purpose these sculptures provide other than perhaps a opportunity for a photo-op for curious tourists. 


I feel that some sculptures may seem visually appealing, but really are not easy to understand for the common man. Sculptures should have some relevance and significance to the their location. 

Take for example, the world famous LOVE sculpture located just a few blocks away from the Clothespin. Although not originally created for the city of brotherly love, this sculpture is very easy to appreciate and relate to.


This brings me to my main talking point - why do we architects give more credence to design that only has shock value over another that is simple and easy to comprehend?


As students, we are pressured into thinking more about the concept and form of our designs rather than the function they are expected to cater to. We are tricked into spending too much time worry about how something will look. Often this comes at the expense of  the functional aspect of design. In my next few posts, I will illustrate this with more examples from the past and the present. Do you feel that architects today believe in the concept of form follows function or vice versa?

Presentation of a drawing or sketch

• A well presented drawing can make the eyes ignore some of its minor flaws.
• So before sketching you should plan the layout of the sheet.
• Keep in mind that brown or dark colored sheets make the sketches (especially pencil sketches) look extremely dull.
•  The font used in writing is also very important. So a little knowledge about calligraphy will definitely help to enhance the presentation.
• Formatting and maintaining the sheet is the key to a successful presentation. Make sure the sheets do not develop dog-ears(ends folded) Also take care while folding the sheets. Roll the sheets properly and make sure you use a butter-sheet or newspaper to cover your drawing.

Sketching Tips II - Scaling and proportion

Scaling and proportion complement each other. When you see a sketch in a book or magazine, you have to be able to conceptualize and imagine what scale will be suitable to your sheet.

Every line in the sketch should have some calculated proportion, and maintaining that proportion is important. For example, you cannot show a building or object far away in same size as an object that is closer to you.

After the sketch is completed it is important that any text to be added is also in proportion with the drawing. You cannot have a huge drawing and a very small text or vice versa.

Scaling and proportion is probably the 1st ingredient for a good presentation.