# Form follows function A design principle and maxim coined by [[Louis Sullivan]] which describes the approach that a designed object or building should relate to the intended purpose. > Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, _form ever follows function_, and this is the law. Where function does not change, form does not change. The granite rocks, the ever-brooding hills, remain for ages; the lightning lives, comes into shape, and dies, in a twinkling. > It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. _This is the law._[^1] While Modernist architects use to rationalize that decorative elements (“ornaments”) are superfluous and should be removed, [[Louis Sullivan|Sullivan]]‘s designs embraced Art Nouveau and Celtic Revival features. The idea was applied to principle masses.[^2] - #followup [[Victor Papanek]] - #seed Corinthian leather vs Model T ## LYT Exercise Form follows functions is a [[Design]] and [[Architecture]] principle that suggests the what needs to follow the why. Aesthetic is a component of function. But function is the critical aspect of human-centred design. If we aren't designing for the needs of people, what are we doing? [^1]: Sullivan, L. (1896, March). The tall office building artistically considered. _Lippincott’s Magazine_, 403–409. [^2]: ==Need better citation than old notes.==