Turning Function into Form.

Paper in proceeding, 2015

Since the so-called »type-debate« at the 1914 Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne – on individual versus standardized types – the discussion about turning Function into Form has held an important place in Architectural Theory. The aim of this contribution is to trace the origins and historic shifts in the relationship between Function and Form: First, how Functional Thinking was turned into an Art Form; second, how Functional Analysis was applied to design and production processes; third, how Architectural Function was used as a social or political argument. The comparison of the different aspects of the relationship between Function and Form may not only shed a new light on the creative process in Modern Architecture. Looking at the historic shifts – from Art to Science and Politics – may also serve as stepstones towards a new poetic rethinking of the relationship of Function and Form that contemporary values require.