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Editorial: Form does not follow


‘Architecture is not about form’  Peter Zumthor; ‘Architecture is the result of the forming’ – Roy Lichtenstein

Form follows fiction. Form 
follows profit. Form follows the
fastest route to planning permission
(at which point it is most likely to be square-ish).
Form follows fashion. Form follows an algorithm. Form 
follows the competition brief. Form wanders the streets in search of a local
vernacular, then follows pastiche. Form follows light. Form follows style. Form follows a passive strategy with regards to solar gain, water use and air flow. Form follows technology.
Form follows security protocols.
Form follows what is buildable using locally sourced materials and available labour. Form follows a human behavioural study. Form follows friction. Form follows beauty. Form follows a branding exercise. Form follows the whims of an architect working for a politician with deep pockets seeking the regenerative powers of an icon. Form follows a three-martini lunch and a napkin sketch. Form follows emotion. Form follows the negative space between constraints of programme and context. Form follows the maximum buildable envelope of the site. Form follows zoning. Form follows the budget.
a line 
for a walk.
Form follows model-making and one-to-one mock-ups. Form follows failure. Form follows
decay. Form begins where engineering ends. Form frames fixtures and fittings.
Form encloses space. Form fixes context. Form forges landscape. Form
follows freedom. Form 
does not follow.

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Lead Image

Taken from Siteless: 1001 Building Forms by François Blanciak