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8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

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THE FUNCTION

OF

FORM

Author:

Farshid

Moussavi

Published

by

Actar and

Harvard University

Graduate

School

of Design

www.actar.com

www.gsd.

harvard.ed

u

Edited

with

Daniel L6pez-Perez

and

Garrick

Ambrose,

Ben

Fortunato,

Ryan Ludwig,

Ahmadreza

Schricker

With contributions

by

Richard

Galbraith

of Sandy

Brown

Associates

on

acoustics;

Jason Guteratne

of

Halcrow

Yolles

on structures

Copy-editing

Mary

Wall

Graphic

design

Reinhard

Steger,

Actar

Pro

Editorial

support

Albert

Ferre,

Actar

Mario

Ballesteros,

Actar

Anna Tetas,

Actar

Digital

production

Leandre

Linares,

Actar

Pro

Oriol

Rigat,

Actar

Pro

Printing

lngoprint

Distribution

Actar

D

Roca i Batlle

2

E-08023

Barcelona

T +34

93

417

49

93

F +34 93 418

67

07

office

@

actar-d.com

www.actar-d.com

Actar

D USA

158

Lafayette

St,Sth

floor

New

York, NY

.10013

T

+1 212966

2207

F

+1

212

966

2214

officeusa@actar-d.com

All rights

reserved

O of

the

edition,

Actar and

The President

and Fellows

of

Harvard

College, 2009

O

of the

work,

Farshid Moussavi

O

of the

drawings,

their

authors

lsBN

978-84-96954-7s-1

DL B-3 1364-09

Printed

and

Bound

in the

European

Union

8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

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engineers,

cost consultants,

project

managers,

landscape engineers,

construction

managers,

acoustic

engineers, lighting consultants, and so on.

A new

binary

process

has emerged: architects endow

a

built

form

with unique sensorial

qualities,

while engineers and

technicians address

its

technical requirements.

This

disconnect

between

needs

and desires results in over-specified and over-complicated built

forms,

and does

not

allow the

design

process

to respond effectively to urgent

problems

which

are

the

outcome of

a variety of

causes, or to

potentials

that may reside

in multiple

spheres,

whether

climate change,

urban

sprawl, the decompression of the urban industrial city,

housing

diversity, or digital tools

and technologies.

Such

hybrid

concerns cannot

be

addressed through binary thinking. They

require

a change in

our approach toward materiality,

away

from

an

understanding of material as exclusively

physical

and tangible,

to

include

both the

physical

and the

non-physical

-

climate,

sound

or economics

as

well

as

wood,

steel

or

glass.

This expanded notion of materiality

-

one could describe

it

as "supramateriality"

-

liberates

built

form {rom

a

dualist approach that separate ideas from

substances,

objects

from

subjects,

and

production

from

perception.

Today,

abstract

and

dynamic materials

can be

precisely

measured and

visualized with

the aid

of

digital software,

and

merged

with concrete materials used to

produce the

design of built

forms.

lt allows built

forms

to address multiple

causes and

hybrid concerns, and it allows us to

redefine

the role

of

function

in built forms,

aligning

it with the way it

is

understood in other disciplines.

ln mathematics,

biology

or computer science,

function

is

seen as a unique, transversal

process,

performed

by a medium that is specific to that discipline

(for

instance,

a differential equation,

an

organ,

a browser). Multiple inputs or materials

(numbers,

cells, content) are combined

in

a specific

way to achieve a single output

-

a singular

form

(a

specific curve, an organism, a body

of

information).

lt is the

singularity

of the resulting form

that

embeds it with a specific function.

ln

architecture, diverse materials

(physical

elements, context, climate, economy)

are

combined

to

produce

a built

form,

the medium being an assembly

of

physical

elements.

Each

built

form

or

assembly

of

physical

elements

functions or

performs in

a specific way as a consequence

of the

way in which

the diverse

materials

are combined.

That is, the function

of

each built form

consists

in a transversal

process

in which the

production

of

forms and the

performance

of forms

are

combined, resulting

in a singular form.

Per[form]ance

of

form

ln his

essay

"Critical

Architecture",3 Michael Hays outlined two

possible positions

for architecture

to adopt

vis-d-vis

culture: architecture

is either an instrument of culture, or it

is

an autonomous form.

Drawing

on the work

of

Mies van

der

Rohe, Hays defined a

"third

position"

in which architecture

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could be used

to determine

the external

appearance

of objects and

relate

them to their

context.

ln the same

period,

Viollet-le-Duc

advanced

his

theory

of structural

rationalism,

which concerned

itself

with functional efficiency

and

the honest

expression

of structures

and

materials as the basis

for the external appearance

of

forms.

For Modern

Movement

architects

such

as Walter Gropius,

the

machine aesthetic and

the techniques

of

mass

production served as

the

inspiration for

built

forms. Later

in

the twentieth

century

Aldo

Rossi

proposed a system

of structural

and spatial

typology

as another

objective

basis

for style.

Conversely,

approaches

that

focused

on

the

intellectual

processo

rather

than the

practical

result

include

much of the

literature on

disegno,

which

was elaborated

by

Leon

BattistaAlberti

in

Florence and

was later taken

up by

Vasari.

Disegno

meant

more

than

the

practice

of "drawing"

and

more than the

modern

notion of "design"

(in

the sense

of

composition

or

pattern),

although

both

words have been used

to translate

it. Crucial

lo

disegno

was the

intellectual

idea or

concept

present

in the

mind of the artist.

The

principles of

perspective

enabled

artists

and

architects

such as

Leonardo

da

Vinci

and Andrea

Palladio

to create

their

own ideal

visualization

of

an

object

or scene,

as

distinct

from

its actual appearance,

and to

place it in a harmonious

relationship

with human beings.

Discussions

of architectural

character,

led

in the

seventeenth

century

by

PerraultT and

in the eighteenth

by

Boullee,

Ledoux

and others,

sought

to establish

a

new language of

forms

-

a "speaking

architecture"

(architecture

parlante) based on simple

geometrical forms

-

that

would enable

people

to

grasp the

purpose

and

character of buildings.

ln

the twentieth century

Le Corbusier,

in line with

these

earlier

ideas, advocated

the use of

simple

geometric objects that

could

be easily

grasped.

His

use

of the

Modulor as a

universal

system

of

proportion for the elements

of

a

built form,

conceived

in relation

to

the

human

form,

and

the

tracds

r6gulateurs

-

the outlines

of existing

buildings that

he drew

in search

of the

rules

of their

visual harmony

-

reflected

his

interest

in the

way forms

would be

perceived rather than

the

way they were

produced. Later

in the twentieth

century,

the CIAM

group, including Siegfried

Giedion,

Josep Lluis Sert

and

Fernand

L6ger, and

others

such as

Alison

and Peter Smithson

(New

Brutalism) and Aldo van Eyck (Structuralism),

were

more

concerned with collectivity

than the

production

of the object,

and

attempted

to

incorporate

a humanistic

approach

into

the

design

of built forms.

Deconstruction,

promoted in the

1980s by architects

and architectural

critics

such

as Bernard

Tschumi, Mark

Wigley and

Philip Johnson,

aimed

to supplant

purely

object-

or subject-oriented

systems

by creating a direct

confrontation

between

them.

The technique

of

collage

was

proposed

as

a

way

of acknowledging

the differences

-

and the

disjunctions

-

between

object

and subject

that

were being exposed

in the

post-modern era.

ln

this

approach,

Wigley

wrote,

"forms

are

disturbed

and only then

given

a

functional

program .

. . lnstead of

forms following

function,

function

follows deformation."s

Such

deformations,

however,

when

uninformed

by a

functional

program, ultimately

resulted in a disconnect

between

objective

and subjective

concerns.

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8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

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milk

or cream

as

well

as

sweeteners,

Starbucks can

make

your

coffee in

70,000

different ways,

Denim

jeans,

once a ubiquitous uniform,

have been

diversified into

cuts,

wash-types and designs.

Now

they can be low-rise or ultra-low-rise, stone-washed,

black, blue

or

white, flare-leg,

boot-leg

or straight-leg,

with front

pockets,

back

pockets

or both, with or without studs, with

or

without

colored stitching, branded or

not,

etc.

ln

the automobile

industry, sensorial

qualities

are being incorporated into the design of cars

to multiply the options available

to consumers.

The

appearance of a

Fiat

500 can be customized

in over

500,000

differeni

ways by the

addition

of accessories or interior and exterior colors.

Volkswagen cars, whether

you

are considering

a

Polo

Maich, a Polo Blue Motion or a Polo SE,

may all be

pretty

much the same as technical

systems, but they can be differentiated by endless

options,

including

color,

upholstery, internal

lighting,

sound

system, or

the shape

of

the

rear lights. Such

variations

may

not change

the

way ihe car functions

technically,

but they diversify

the

perception

and sensation of driving it.

lndustry

crossovers have created another

genre

of differentiation,

from internet caf6s

and

music

store caf6s to crossovers between different

fashion categories.

ln traditional

tailoring

and

sportswear, decorative

motifs,

inscriptions,

humor,

textures and

patterns

which

are typical

of one have

been transferred

to and merged with the other.

This interaction between two

very

different areas of fashion

has not

only

introduced

decorum

to sportswear

and

comfort

to traditional tailoring, but has fostered a

multitude of novel fashion identities.

Differentiation

has

also

played

an

important

role in the

sciences

and

in

the engineering

of new

structures

and materials. All

proteins

are constructed

from only twenty simple molecules of amino acid.

However,

the number of molecules and

the

sequences

in

which

they are

assembled

determine

the different

proteins,

each wiih a different

function, enabling an organism to

function in

different

ways. The

multicolored

flash of an

opal

is

created

by

the

organized

self-assembly of

identical

building blocks.

ln

this case,

the difference

in

size of small spheres

of

quartz

crystal

that measures

only

in

thousandths

of a millimeter determines the

wavelengths, and therefore

the

colors, of the reflected light. Similar

principles

underlie the design

of

photonic

materials

that direct

the communications signals

in

the

bundles of

optical fibers

that form

the

backbone

of the internet. Even more intriguing, millimeter-scaled

metal rings

and

other shapes are being

assembled into

special cloaking

devices,

whereby different orientations

and

slight

variations

of

these elements can make the objects

placed

inside them invisible to the

outside world.

Finally,

in

the emerging multidisciplinary field of supramolecular

chemistry a new

family

of molecular

structures is

being created

from a

small

set of molecular

building

blocks,

or sub-units.

Designed

with special connecting

points

on

their ends, these sub-units

have a unique structural

outline and set of electrostatic charges

which enable them to link up

with

complementary

points

on

other sub-units.

The way these connections

are made can be altered by a change

in

the chemical environment, making

it

possible

to create a

variety

of supramolecular

structures

Oppos te

page;

nflatable dresses from AW03 Kinship Journeys by

Hussein Chalayan.

Photos

courtesy

o1

Hussein Chalayan.

*

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of novel forms, culture

will become stagnant

and

homogeneous.

The fundamental

challenge for

architects and

other

producers of culture

is

io

imbue

the

production of forms

with

a diversity

of

goals

and causes

which are not solely

market-driven,

thereby contributing

to an environment

that connects

individuals to

multitude of choices.

Though

practicing

in very different stages

of the

capitalist

era, Mies

van de

Rohe

and

Rem

Koolhaas are two architects

who

have

succeeded

in diveriing

market-driven

causes towards

architectural

goals. Mies, who witnessed

the advent

of

Fordism, recognized

its huge

potential

for the

building

industry.

Modern steel-frame

construction

enabled built

forms to be liberated

from the solidity and opacity

of

premodern

construction,

allowing for the

development of

a new,

freer relationship between the

interior and

exterior

of a building.

Adopting

the

elements

of Fordist

building culture

-

the

repetition of

prefabricated steel

components

-

Mies created careful

architectonic assemblages,

embedding

spaces

with an opennesst

transparency

and tranquility

that would contrast

with the chaotic

nature of the

city.

ln

each of

his buildings,

Mies dissected

the

tectonics

of the frame

(slab,

rolled angles,

channels,

l-beams,

and

H-columns)

and the enclosing

skin differently.

For example,

in

some

of

his long-span

structures, the

beam

is

placed

inside

the space, while

in

others

it is above

the

roof.

These beams

could be

part

of a system based

on

a one-way frame, a two-way

frame or

a space

frame; the exterior

skin, almost

always made

of

glass,

would fill the spaces between

the

frame,

which in turn could

be

left

as

raw structure

or embellished

with additional columns

attached

to

it, in order to embed

it

with

an

affect of

verticality.

Mies

sometimes

used

l-shaped columns,

and

cruciform columns

at others;

the

junction

between

the columns and

the beams or slabs

was detailed

in

different

ways, but always revealing

the difference between

the two elements.

Such

variations

were internal

to the frame,

however,

and

did not alter its

form. According to

Mies, form

was abstract,

devoid of

building

problems

that

he was interested

in.

Mies believed

that

"it

was not the

task of architecture

to invent form

. . . it was a

question

of truth"le

directed "towards

a spiritual

purpose"'2o And, with regard to the

similarities between

the Bacardi

building and

the

National Gallery

in Berlin,

he

said

he refused

"to design

a

new architecture

every

Monday morning. The Greeks needed hundreds

of years

to

complete the Doric Column,

and

it's all to do

with completion."

lnstead,

Mies focused on

creating

ideal

spaces

through the

repetition and

variation

of the steel-frame

system.

The

success

of

this approach, he believed,

was to be

measured

by

its

"beauty"

and truth.

ln

his

essay on

the Ugly, Mark Cousins

has written

that,

"from

antiquity

and

massively reinforced

by Christianity,

we inherit a

philosophical

trinity

of

the

Beautiful, the Good

and

the True" and

this trinity has survived

in the

grouping of the

negative

of these terms

-

Ugly, Evil and

Error

-

which

"produces

the theoretical

basis

for

persecution and stigmatization".2l

"True",

for Mies,

meant building according

to the

logic of materials;

"good"

meant serving

the

purpose

for

which the building

was intended.

Accordingly, a

building

made in this

way

would

be "beautiful".

Given

the multiplicity of contemporary

culture,

it

seems

inevitable that the

idea of truth or

beauty

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other,

albeit

in

different ways.23

ln

order

to explore

forms as multiplicities, designers

need to

focus on their

affective

funciions.

We are very familiar wiih the affects

Mies

pursued: rationality, order, lightness,

disappearance.

It

is

also

well known

that

he

was interested

in more than

merely the raiional assembly of

architectonic elements, or the

most efficient

means of assembling

a

structural system.

Rather,

he

sought the appearance and experience

of

rationality.

He

saw

in

the steel

frame an opportunity

to create ideal, free spaces

which

avoided

both the "chaotic"

affects of

the modern metropolis

and

the heayiness and representational

figuration of classical

architecture.

Mies well understood

the affective

potential

of architectural

forms, and

in his

works these affects

are

finely tuned

and

directed at eliciting

a singular and

clearly defined

experience.

The simple

repetiiion of

the

steel

frame contributes to the

appearance

of rationality.

The

way the elements are

combined

is

always

visible and the different elements

of the

forms

remain

distinct. Columns

never

merge with slabs,

the

mullions of the frame

never merge

with the infill

panels. There

is always a

connecting element

or

a change in color or

material.

Mies's

interest

in

controlling

the

perception of

rationality

in his buildings is illustrated

by

the Seagram

building

in New York

(p.

74). He designed

this building

to be viewed

from Park

Avenue as a

pristine,

slender,

vertical tower.

ln

fact, considerable

effort

was

required to embed

these affects.

The tower

has an

irregular volume. The three

modules that,

viewed

from Park

Avenue,

appear to

make up the

depth of the tower

were in fact

extended

at the back

by a

further three bays

to house ancillary uses.

These were introduced by stepping

the

volume

in

to

preserve

the slender,

three-by-five-module

extrusion

facing Park

Avenue.

Had

Mies simply added

the ancillary

spaces as

an extension of the

bays

on the Park Avenue

frontage, the tower

would

have

entirely

different

proportions, being six

bays

deep, with

only

five

bays

on

Park

Avenue. Not only

would this

have

transmitted

an affect of

stumpiness

rather than slenderness,

it

would also

have

changed

the orientation

of the tower away

from

its

entry

plaza

on Park

Avenue. Mies disguised

the

functional

requirements of

the building

in

order

to produce

a

simple, extruded

form,

Even

though

he

varied the

tectonic

elements of

the

steel frame

-

its

"ornaments"

(joints,

seams

shapes,

colors,

depth)

-

the

combinations

were

systematically controlled

in

the

interest of conveying

the sensation

of

rationality.

Certain

parallels

could be drawn

between

the way

Mies's

forms work

and

gym equipment, The

typical

piece

of

gym

equipment

is fixed and

one-track-minded,

developing

a

single

muscle

at

a

time

through

linear or isolated

patterns

of movement.

A bench-press

works

your

arms, a

butterfly-press

works

your pecs,

over

and over again.

The exercises

require

no coordination

or concentration

Opposite

page:

History

Flow,

designed

by

IBM's Watson

Research Center,

is a

tool for creating

images of the evolution

oJ a

text and

the interactions of

mu iiple

authors.

The iliustration above shows

the Wik

pedla

entries on

abortion and chocolate.

The vertical llnes

tTack

new

vers

ons and lhe

colors

track the contr butions

of rndividual edltors.

The form

o{

the resulting

pattern is intrjnsic to the

material

being combined at

a

g

ven moment, reflectlng lhe transversal

nature o{

Wik

pedia as an information forum. Credits;

Fernanda

Viegas

and

Martin

Wattenberg,

Vlsual

Communication

Lab, IBM Research

-

-

G

-

,

4

I

-

-

--r

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uses

the

frame

in

a

non-repetitive

manner,

resisting

a

simple

delimitation

of interior-

exterlor'

The

WTC tower

complex

uses

the

frame

in

a non-extruded

manner

to

create

an upside-down

figure

with a

stepped

profile which

is reminiscent

of

art

deco.

111 First

Street

(p'

76) stacks

tower

blocks

on

top

of

one

another.

Looking

up at

the

tower,

you wonder

if

you

are

looking

at

a series

of

weightless

towers,

floating

towers,

or

a

pile

of

heavy

boxes

about

to

fall

on

top

of

you

-

or,

indeed,

if

this

is

a

giant looking

down

at

you' since

the

three

blocks

resembte

the

legs,

torso

and

head

of

a human

being.

For

Rem

Koolhaas,

coherence

. .

.

is

either

cosmetic

or the

result

of

self-censorship .zs

,n

of course

does

not

mean

that

forms do

not

need

coherence

or that

design

is by

nature

not

an act

of censorship

(selection).

The

work

of

Koolhaas/OMA

questions the

image

of

coherence

in order

to

avoid

limiting

the

building's

affective

possibilities.

Other

projects that

perform

as a

multiplicity

are

documented

in

this

book.

One

example

is

the

Yokohama

lnternational

Port

Terminal

by

FOA

(p.

392).

Although

St'

John's

Abbey

by

Marcel

Breuer

(p.

352)

or the

Air

Force

Academy

Chapel

by SOM

(p.

386) also

use

a

folded

plate

structure,

they

simply

repeat

it

to

produce

a

single,

undifferentiated

space

and,

consequently,

a single

percept,

triggering the

same

affects of

pleating, axiality

and

uniformity

throughout.

The material system

of

yokahama

lnternational

Port

Terminal

is

a

hybrid

composed

of

steel

folded

plates and

pairs of steel

girder bridge

systems,

which

together

make

it

possible

for the

form

to

vary

along

both

its

length

and

its

width

to

cater

for

varying

programmatic,

circulatory,

structural,

and

services

requirements

as

well

as

those

of

the

predetermined

asymmetrical

foundation

piles.

Girder

bridge

systems

allow

the

orientation,

geometry

and

length

of the

circulation

system

to shift

in

order to

accommodate

disparate

requirements,

while

the

folded

plates shift

in

orientation,

scale

of

folding

and sectional

profile

to accommodate

different

spans

and

changes

to

the

girders. The

hybrid

nature

of

this

material

system

results

in

a complex

form

providing

spatial

variety

as

well

as

multiple

percepts and

affects.

The

parking

1evel

transmits

affects

of

flatness,

pleating,

openness

and

axiality,

and

ef{iciency,

while

the

terminal

level

transmits

arching,

pleating,

diagonality,

asymmetry

and

purposefulness'

and

the

roof

plaza

transmits

undulaiion,

smoothness,

landscape,

valley,

mountain

and

perambulation'

These diverse

affects contribute to

a

variety

of percepts

-

origami' landscape;

a

whale,

ship

deck,

pier or wave

-

and

ensure

that

ihe

terminal

is

not

reducible

to a

single

interpretation

or

meaning'

Similar

explorations

of the

diagrid

by oMA

and

FoA

have

generated

other

novel

forms'

Since

the

triangular

members

of

a diagrid

can

distribute

gravitational

loads

as

well

as

lateral

forces,

they

obviate

the

need

for

the conventional

vertical

columns

on the

building

perimeter,

allowing

more

freedom

in

the

floor

plan,

and

the

construction

of

complex

tubular

forms.

Two

examples

of

tower

forms

that

explore

the

characteristic

elasticity

of the

diagrid

are

30 St,

Mary

Axe

(p

120)

and

the

Hearst

Headquarters

(p.

102),

both

by

Fosterand

Partners.30

st.

MaryAxe

(swiss

Re) uses

the

diagrid

as

part of the

main

load-bearing

system,

and

the

diameter

of

its floors

varies

in size

to

produce

a

tower

with

a conical

profile. The

diagrid

is

carefully

designed

to

transmit

affects

of

latticing

and twisting.

The

cross-bars

-

composed

of

a series

of two-story-high

triangular

A-frames

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8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

24/31

Modernism

sought

a

new

approach,

a

rational

system

for determining

the

relationship

between

whole

and

its

parts, based

on

principles

derived

from

the

processes

of

mass

production'

Mies

van

der

Rohe's

Seagram

headquarters

is

an

example

of

a

building

based

on

modern

industrialized

building technology,

using

glass and

steel frame

construction.

Although,

as

mentioned

earlier,

any

number

of

silhouettes

could

have

been

derived

from

the

steel

frame

system,

Mies

pursued

the

simplest

option

in

order

to

achieve

the

image

of

rationality.

During

the same

period Le

corbusier,

with

his

idea of

the

Modulor,2s

sought

to establish

a

universal

proportional

system

of

relating

the

different

elements

of a

building,

from

three-dimensional

space

to

structural

modules,

sections

and

elevations.

This system

relied

on

the

human

eye,

posilioned

at

a

predetermined

height,

rather

than

the

intrinsic

dimensional

requirements

of

its

constituent

parts'

Thus

the

Modulor

was also

essentially

an

idealized

system

of

visual

control'

A

very early

example

of

the

bottom-up

approach

to

form

can

be

found

in

lslamic

architecture'

in

which

a

system

of

mathematical

formulae

governed

the

repetition

of

geometrical

figures

to

produce

whole

surfaces.

ln

the

1g60s

and

1970s,

functionalism,

as

proposed by

CIAM

(Dutch

structuralists

such

as

Aldo

van Eyck, Herman

Hertzberger and

Piet Blom),

and

later

by

Team

10

and the

Metabolists,

advocated

the

use

of modules

that

could

be

repeated

to

produce

an

architectural

whole.

The

capsule

Hotel

in

Tokyo,

by

the

Metabolist

Kisho

Kurokawa,

exemplifies

this

approach'

The

fourteen-story

tower

conlains

140

individually

articulated

capsules

stacked

around

a central

core,

with each

capsule

designed

to

be detachable

and

replaceable.

However,

this

idea

of

flexibility

is

limited

to the

possibility

of replacing

the

capsules

and

the

whole

is

essentially

an addition

of

identical

parts, As

in

other

bottom-up

systems,

it cannot

respond

to

specific

needs.

During

the same

period,

Louis

Kahn

and

Robert

Le

Ricolais

produced

alternative

modular

systems

in which

spatial

and

structural

requirements

were

related

topologically.

The

intention

of

this

topological

approach

was

to enable

the

parts to change

shape

while

retaining

the same

properties'

Bui,

because

such

changes

were

limited

to

needs

that

were

internal

to

the

system,

they

resulted

in

isomorphic

wholes'

Both the top-down and bottom-up approaches to the genesis

of

form were based

on

essentialist'

idealized

views

of

the

world.

Geometric

systems

of

proportion,

perspective,

typology,

the

Modulor,

the

geometrical

tiling

of

lslamic

architecture,

and

functionalism

were

all

based

on a

priori,

ideal

principles

that

either

repeated

the

parts

or

subdivided

the

whole,

in

response

to

concerns

that

remained

internal

to

the

given system.

Furthermore,

since

the

parts

and

the

wholes

were

conceived

as

fixed

geometric

aggregates,

they

could

not

combine

to

modify

each

other'

Transversal

systems

This

book

proposes a

transversal

approach

to

the

production

o{

forms'

ln

a

transversal

system'

a

base

unit

assembles

a

variety

of

causes

and

concerns

into

a

complex

supramaterial

whole

-

an

amorphic

rather

than

hylomorphic

whole;

that

is,

the

way the

elements

combine

is not

8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

25/31

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8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

26/31

8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

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8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

28/31

This

split began with Plato,

for whom abstract, intelligible ideas

Forms)

inhabited

the

world

of

pure

reason,

while

sensible and

physical

things

forms)

were

a refleciion and imitation

of

these

archetypal Forms.

The

question

of

whether

the

physical

or

the non-physical

has

priority

has

preoccupied

succeeding generations

of

philosophers.

From

the

seventeenth century

onward

philosophers

began to challenge the

transcendental

tradition in

philosophy.

However,

despite their disagreements

over

whether

the

physical

or the

non-physical

provided

identity

and meaning to forms, all of these

critiques maintained,

in one

way

or another, the fundamental

distinction

between

ideas

and matter. Every form

was

a

replica,

and identity

remained

singular, complete and atemporal. The idea

of repetition was

therefore

controverstal,

since a

form

that represents

a

pre-existing

ideal

lacks the capacity

to evolve

or

to

generate

a

new

identity. Deleuze

offers a solution to this

problem

with his

conceptual

framework

of the virtual and the

actual.

According

to

Deleuze,

nothing

exists

outside the world

we

live in;

there are

no

transcendental

ideals. Our

world

is

composed of virtual forms

and actual

forms.

Virtual

ideas

are differences

in

themselves, and these

differences are like intensities

that

differentiate

them

from one

another.

Virtual forms

are

therefore not ideals detached from

reality,

but abstract ideas

not

yet

actualized. Owing to their abstractness,

they can be interpreted

in

a

variety

of ways

to

produce

a

variety of

sensible

forms, a

process

that Deleuze has

referred

to

as

differentiation.

There are therefore

two types of difference:

an

intensive

difference

that relates

to

difference in

kind between

abstract

ideas,

and an extensive

difference that relates

to the

degree to which

one sensible form is

different to the other. This

degree of difference is

explicated

as a

simulacrums2

that in

turn affects us in

specific

ways. A

simulacrum is not, however,

the

representation

of another thing

for

example, the representation

of an ideal

form),

but an

image

whose

identity

depends

precisely

on the difference between

the virtual and the

actual.

We

therefore

need

abandon the

polarity

of

simple

v. complex

repetition, which

considers

simple repetition

as mere replication. Difference is to

be

measured

noi only in

spatial extensity

-

that

is,

the

way

a

form

is

spatially varied

-

but also

in

the intensity

of

a

form and according

to the

specific way it

affects us. Architects

can embed the environment with

difference in

two

ways:

by

producing

different

kinds

of ideas for built forms

and by exploring dif{erent

ways

of

actualizing

ideas

as built

forms,

Current architectural investigations

are mostly focused

on

internal geometrical

variations

of forms,

rarely

focusing

on

how

the ideas they

embed differ from

other ideas

or on how

the built forms they

produce

differ from

other built forms. Yet

two forms

that actualize

an

idea

differently but involve no internal variation

can embed the environment

with

a

greater

degree of difference,

by affecting us

in

very different ways,

than two forms

that are

internally

differentiated

but

actualize

an idea in

the

same way,

thus transmitting identical

affects.

This

book

explores the idea

of architecture

as a

continuous

process

of creating novel forms

and ideniities

through

the

repetition

and differentiatron

tessellation)

of virtual forms.

ln doing

8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

29/31

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8/17/2019 Moussavi Function of Form

30/31

environment where they are

to

be

actualized to

produce novel forms. Forms

in

this

way motivate

the

generation

of other forms and

they

perform transversally, addressing

locally multiple criteria

and concerns

which

may

belong to different

geographies or time

in history.

We

no longer need

to

think

in terms

of

irreconcilable

oppositions

-

mind v. matter,

people

v.

objects,

production

v.

perception, raiional

v.

sensorial,

old v.

new,

difference v.

repetition.

Our environment includes

all of these and

this

necessitates an

ecosophical 33

practice

that

considers all forms of ecology

together,

whether environmenlal,

mental

or social. This calls

for

a

transversal

design

process

that bypasses

the

traditional top-down

or bottom-up approach.

A transversal approach,

in which causes and

concerns

that are immanent

in

the environment

are

combined to

generate

forms, enables

us

to

harness the transformative

power

of contemporary

reality. Moreover, it enables us to

incorporate

greater

levels of complexity

within

built

forms,

allowing

multiple

inputs to interact simultaneously

on the same

plane

to

generate

a

multitude

of novel forms, each

with

unique

expressions,

sensations

and affects.

Because such affects

and sensaiions are conditioned

by individual

experience,

their reception

is inevitably different

in each

case,

and therefore

multiple. Thus the

environment acts

as

a

social

matrix in which

built forms

provide

a

link between

individuals with

different views. Given

the increasingly

plural

nature of

society,

the affective

character of buili

forms

can

play

a

powerful role

by

embedding

the environment

with multiplicity,

providing

society

with the

means to conduct an autocritique.

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