American architect Louis Sullivan, known as the father of the skyscraper, coined the phrase “form always follows function” in his 1896 essay, “The Great Office Building Artistically Considered.” His argument was that the shape of a building – its appearance – depends on how people use it.
Two centuries later, this guiding principle of modern architecture was overturned – or at least set aside.
“When form follows function, architecture becomes limited to solving utilitarian problems. It doesn’t deliver more than what is asked of it,” architect Ole Scheeren said at the Fortune Brainstorm Design conference in Macau on Tuesday.
“Architecture must go beyond the plan, the program and the diagram,” he added. “We think of buildings as living organisms…Narrative stories anticipate the buildings we design, but buildings write their own stories when they come to life. »
Scheeren arrived in China more than three decades ago, sharing the same situation with construction workers and learning everything he could about the local architecture. Then, in 2008, he created what became one of his most iconic creations: the angular, looping shape of the Beijing headquarters of CCTV, China’s national television channel, nicknamed “big pants” by locals.
Now director of the architecture firm Buro Ole Scheeren, the architect has embarked on a contrarian approach to building design, mixing form with fiction, referencing the stories of the people who live in and use the facilities, and remaking the maxim that dictates that the exterior of the building should match what is done inside the building.
In Bangkok, Scheeren sought to connect the 300-meter-high Mahanakhon Tower to bustling city life. Opened in 2016, the pixelated facade has been divided into terraces, culminating in a roof with a 360-degree open space and where visitors can stand on a single sheet of glass to admire the panoramic view.
Chinese Big Tech startups have also adopted Scheeren’s revolutionary designs. The architect built Tencent’s Shenzhen headquarters in the shape of a vortex, a swirling complex of four towers intended to symbolize the company’s growth.
For the telecommunications company ZTE, the architect focused on the principle that “work is no longer just work”, integrating nature into the building.
A movie fan, Scheeren sees similarities with the experience of watching movies and his approach to buildings. “A film takes you on a journey…architecture has the potential to do the same,” he said at the Fortune conference.
Artificial intelligence
Architecture and design firms are beginning to explore the use of generative AI, using it to quickly generate ideas or refine concepts based on feedback. On Tuesday, Scheeren said he was already using AI in his work. He nevertheless warned of some of the dangers of over-reliance on technology.
“When fitness follows artificial intelligence, we are overwhelmed by the endless possibilities we seemingly never thought of, and by all that AI can do for us,” he said, wondering “at what point do we start to let go of judgment and decision-making.”
Later, he emphasized that some tasks should remain manual and analog, even in a more digitalized world. Since buildings exist in the real world, tasks cannot be entirely handed over to AI.
“I believe that … the judgment of what is truly meaningful in a particular situation is not something that will not be easily delivered by machines,” he said.
