Which architect is credited with the phrase form follows function?

Which architect is credited with the phrase form follows function?

• A. Louis Sullivan
• B. Le Corbusier
• C. Frank Lloyd Wright
• D. Andrea Palladio

Answer: (A)

The idea is that a building’s external shape should express its purpose and structural logic, rather than being driven by decoration alone. Louis Sullivan articulated this approach in the late 19th century, arguing that the function and the skeleton of a structure should guide its form. In practice, this meant the façade and overall silhouette should reveal how the building works—the vertical grid, the arrangement of spaces, and the load-bearing system—while ornament is minimized or derived from the building’s function. His work on early skyscrapers, like the Wainwright Building, is often cited as a clear demonstration: a straightforward, function-driven form with ornament kept subordinate to legibility of structure and use. This set a precedent for modern architecture, emphasizing truth to material and purpose. Le Corbusier is associated with modernist ideals and the machine-like efficiency of form, and Frank Lloyd Wright pursued organic relationships with site and nature, but the specific attribution of the phrase is older and tied to Sullivan’s advocacy. Palladio belongs to the Renaissance, focusing on classical proportion and order rather than function-driven form.

The idea is that a building’s external shape should express its purpose and structural logic, rather than being driven by decoration alone. Louis Sullivan articulated this approach in the late 19th century, arguing that the function and the skeleton of a structure should guide its form. In practice, this meant the façade and overall silhouette should reveal how the building works—the vertical grid, the arrangement of spaces, and the load-bearing system—while ornament is minimized or derived from the building’s function. His work on early skyscrapers, like the Wainwright Building, is often cited as a clear demonstration: a straightforward, function-driven form with ornament kept subordinate to legibility of structure and use. This set a precedent for modern architecture, emphasizing truth to material and purpose.

Le Corbusier is associated with modernist ideals and the machine-like efficiency of form, and Frank Lloyd Wright pursued organic relationships with site and nature, but the specific attribution of the phrase is older and tied to Sullivan’s advocacy. Palladio belongs to the Renaissance, focusing on classical proportion and order rather than function-driven form.