The Function of Style
Farshid Moussavi ’s (2014) is a seminal architectural text that redefines "style" not as a superficial aesthetic choice, but as a systematic way of assembling forms to address the "micro-politics" of everyday life. As the third installment in her "Function" trilogy—following The Function of Ornament and The Function of Form —this work argues that contemporary architectural diversity is a deliberate network of ideas rather than random eclecticism. Key Concepts and Arguments
Continuing themes from her previous books, Moussavi seeks to fuse form and function. Rather than treating them as opposing forces (where form follows function or vice versa), style is analyzed as the mechanism that makes them work together simultaneously. Google Books 📊 Book Structure and Methodology
For example, the PDF features the Brick Weave by Rural Studio or the Toda House by Tato Architects. Here, bricks are rotated, cantilevered, or gapped to create screens that filter light and allow ventilation. In this case, the "style" (the weaving pattern) is the function (shading and airflow). You cannot separate the look from the performance.
The Critique of Modernist Functionalism
ornament and style
In the contemporary architectural discourse, few debates are as polarized as the one concerning . For decades, modernist doctrine—famously summarized by Adolf Loos’s 1908 essay "Ornament and Crime"—stigmatized ornament as wasteful and dysfunctional. However, British-Iranian architect and educator Farshid Moussavi challenges this orthodoxy head-on in her seminal work, The Function of Style .
In-Depth Interview
: Read Moussavi’s discussion on "Style and Substance" at The Architectural Review .
: The book challenges the traditional separation of form (aesthetic) and function (utility). It proposes that architectural function should align with its definition in biology or mathematics: a transversal process where diverse inputs (context, economy, materials) are combined to produce a singular, performative output. Everyday Life as Material