Contemporary Architecture Doing Louis Sullivan Proud

Contemporary Architecture Doing Louis Sullivan Proud

In 1943, Ayn Rand released her seminal novel The Fountainhead to audiences around the world. The book gained both acclaim and criticism for its support of the philosophy of Objectivism, a philosophy Rand embodied in an architect by the name of Howard Roark. Rand built the character of Roark around the same ideals that Roark used to build his buildings; that “an honest building, like an honest man, had to be of one piece and one faith…” and “the good, the high and the noble on Earth was only that which kept its integrity.”

Howard Roark, much like the real life father of modern architecture Louis Sullivan, believed that, in all things, “form follows function.” He also believed that if a man or building betrayed this one, ubiquitous rule, “the thing or the creature was dead.” In our present architectural age, however, it has been discovered that, while this ideal has a lovely ring to it and seems to simplify architecture to one fundamental principle, it faces a number of real world challenges that make it nothing more than just that: an ideal.

Still, when not taken as the carte blanche rule for all aspects of architecture Mr. Roark and Mr. Sullivan advocated, the idea at the base of “form follows function” can be seen in contemporary architecture around the world. Present-day architectural design may not rely solely on the “form follows function” paradigm, but the influence of Louis Sullivan’s teachings is undeniable in the structures being designed by his successors nearly 90 years after his death.

Few buildings built in the past decade manifest this idea better than the main auditorium of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. I know what you must be thinking, “All of those curves and metaphoric shapes! There is no way Louis Sullivan would have built something like that!” While you may be correct that Louis Sullivan would have never built a structure that resembled the Walt Disney Concert Hall, I believe he would have approved of it, or at least its main auditorium.

The concert hall’s main auditorium was designed by Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, a design firm that specializes in creating concert halls that are not only structurally sound, but acoustically sound as well. The swoops and curves of this main auditorium, while pleasing to the eye, are fundamental to providing it with its high-quality acoustics that are lauded as among the best in the world. As you can see, the function of the building, to act as a concert hall for the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra, directly influenced the building’s form.

A quick look at the world’s tallest structure, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, reveals that this idea is also present in buildings on the largest scale. The Burj Khalifa, also known as the “Khalifa Tower” stands 2,717 feet tall and was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the same firm that designed the Willis Tower in Chicago. Because of the building’s massive height, every aspect of this building’s form was shaped by its function: to be the largest building in the world. From the building’s foundation and podium, to its structural system and exterior cladding, to its elevators and mechanical floors, every facet of the Burj Khalifa is striving to satisfy this one purpose. The fact that it is still standing, reaching nearly a kilometer into the sky, is a testament to their success, and the success of Louis Sullivan’s ideal in the present-day.

While these buildings may not have been designed solely around Louis Sullivan’s ideal, it is irrefutable that “form follows function” manifests itself in their design. Whether this was intentional or because of necessity, however, we may never know. So, what do you think Pencils.com readers? Is there a place for “form follows function” in contemporary architectural design? Or is this an ideal that should be left in the past? We would love to hear what you think in the comments section below.