Week 12 The Issue of Form and Function

Last week I read a piece of news which was about MIT Stata Centre’s leaking problem. MIT Stata Centre, which is also called Drunk Robot Building, finished in 2004, but found there was leaking problem three years later.

The designer is Frank Gehry, one of the most notable architects in the world. He is also my favorite architect. However, in MIT’s case, he had to confront with a lot of accusations from others. The main issue is focus on the conflict between form and function when he designed MIT’s Stata Centre.

This week I read another piece of news written by Daniel Dessinger. Instead of giving the details of the leaking problems, he did an in-depth research of Gehry’s other existing masterpieces, As he described in the article, Frank Gehry “sacrificed function on the altar of Novelty.”

In the first several paragraphs of the article, Dessinger talked about Frank Gehry’s another problem that some of Gehry’s projects did not fit in with their surroundings. I partly agree with Dessinger’s opinion. However, I also do not want to see a host of ubiquitous square boxes which maybe perfect fit in with their surroundings.

But what I am focus is the form and function issue. The writer then gave a host of examples to criticize Gehry’s “free-form” style. For instance, one of Frank Gehry’s famous masterpieces---Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA “created hot spots on the surrounding pavement that at times climb up to 140 F, creating a health hazard for the pedestrians.”

The writer then concluded that “architecture should exist for and serve humans, not the other way around.”

For my part, Dessinger’s view is rather extreme. I want to say that a world where we pass by thousands of buildings noticing only a few, it is Gehry's work that seizes our attention. Of course he must look beyond form and focus more on a building's functionality. Anyway, Gehry's achievement in architectural realm is much bigger than some small errors he had made.

http://www.culturefeast.com/frank-gehry-and-fetishism-of-form/

Week 11 Frank Gehry & MIT

Frank Gehry , who designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, is also the 1989 Pritzker Prize owner and one of the most notable architects in the world. He is famous for his deconstructive design and also regarded as the representative of post modernism.

However, when he finished one of his masterpieces ---The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Stata Center, Gehry was suing alleging serious flaws in the design.

It really surprised me; I have always admired his design. Thus I can not wait to read through the news. MIT’s Stata Center is a science building of boldly angled walls and swooping curves on the Cambridge, Mass. campus. The problems of the building, as the writer described in the second paragraph, included leaks throughout the building, mold growing on its brick exterior, and poor drainage in the center's amphitheater. Oh god…

I really like Frank Gehry’s unique deconstructive design, especially his buildings’ conspicuous exterior and materials. I also know he has many opponents. In the third paragraph, the writer went on to talk about some of his opponents’ opinion in relation to MIT’s problem. They criticized that Gehry cared more about the architecture’s form than function. They said that Gehry’s vision surpassed both the technology available to build what he drew and the size of his clients’ bank accounts.

The news was very attractive and I can not wait read Gehry’s response in the next several paragraphs. Gehry stated that “These things are complicated, and they involved a lot of people, and you never quite know where they went wrong”.

Fortunately, in the next several paragraphs, after a heated debate between MIT and Gehry’s company, the lawsuit was finally "amicably resolved." However, after reading this news, there is one thing confused me: the issues between form and function.

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/theskyline/2010/04/three-years-after-suing-gehry-mit-settles-with-architect-in-stata-center-dispute-.html