Balancing Act: Function versus Form

Balancing Act: Function Versus Form

Architect's Advice

​As your friendly Studio Pages author, I have a unique view into the architecture world of my colleagues; I am architect-adjacent but only based on proximity alone and not at all in terms of expertise. What I can discern from this perspective, however, is that architecture as a discipline exists in the “in between” of so many different things. If a physicist is at one end of the spectrum and an actor is at the other, an architect would sit perfectly between the two. An architect, especially a residential one, works just as much in science as in art, as much in function as in form, and as much in the logical as the emotional. In this almost-springtime edition of the Studio Pages newsletter, I want to focus on the form versus function piece. 
I would argue that form and function are not at odds with one another, and instead they are symbiotic. You can certainly design solely with form in mind—do that, and you will end up with a beautifully impractical space, like a showroom or museum. At the same time, you can design only for function, with a utilitarian, almost clinical, space perfect for a laboratory or warehouse. Every space falls somewhere on the spectrum, 

but I would go as far as asserting that when you think of your dream home, you neither want the warehouse nor the showroom (more power to you if you do, though!). Now, I don’t think I am qualified to assert whether the perfect design exists exactly between the austere and the theatrical, but I can say without a doubt that everyone’s perfect design does include aspects of both alongside one another.  
Balance is the name of the game, and while balance is going to be defined differently by each person, it can still prove difficult to master. That’s where our architects come in. With decades of experience each, Bill and Gregg have perfected the tightrope walk between function in form when it comes to a home. So, straight from the experts, I’ve compiled some tips, tricks, and considerations to keep in your repertoire for a home design project of any kind. ​
​

Lead With Lifestyle

​   At Studio21 Architects, our team begins every project process with some homework. We lovingly refer to that homework as our Lifestyle Questionnaire, the goal of which is to identify the needs of the household, including their routines, preferences, habits, and such. For example, a retired couple will not have the same storage needs as the family of five, and the lover of cooking will have different requirements for their kitchen than the lover of DoorDash. Balance between function and form will simply not happen without understanding the “Who” of it all. Just think of the latter example—a fancy stove has function and utility to the home chef, while that same stove in the door-dasher’s home becomes a waste of space and money, ultimately existing just for show. 
   While I cannot divulge the entirety of our proprietary questionnaire, a few other aspects worth considering for this topic are your hobbies, holidays and how they affect your household, which parts of your home make you happy, and which parts make you unhappy. 
​

Strategic Scale

   Scale plays an important role in the design of a space, and it can certainly be manipulated to get high-impact results with a smaller room or budget. Functionally, of course, architects have a baseline sense of scale; a bedroom, of course, must fit your bed. In a design project of any kind, we can assume that the solution to a too-small bedroom is just to make it bigger, but that isn’t always possible. Expanding the bedroom could come at the expense of space elsewhere. So, strategically utilizing scale can be a fantastic tool to accomplish the appearance of space, without compromising on another—potentially more important—use of square footage. 
​   A higher ceiling height will make a room feel larger, just like using lighter-colored finishes will open up a small space. Skylights and windows, placed with intention, add brightness to dark rooms and hallways. On the other side of the coin, not every space needs to look or feel bigger. If your all-white bathroom feels near clinically bright, darker tiles or larger plumbing fixtures can cozy up the room to feel more like a bathroom, and less like a doctor’s office. 
​   During design, it can certainly be difficult to ascertain the scale of your home based on the two-dimensional plans alone. That is one of the reasons why our 3D renderings are an integral part of the process; architectural plans use their own architectural language, and renderings bridge that gap for all of us!

Embrace the Dual-Purpose

    I would argue that certain finishes, design features, and selections yield equal amounts of function as form. For example, take lighting: lighting has a very clear function, but the form certain lighting can take can also be beautifully designed. Our architects are huge proponents of lighting design, as it has an impact on form and function. 
    In the kitchen, our team generally recommends three kinds of lighting: general, accent, and task. Your general lighting will illuminate the whole space, while accent lighting may just be a lovely pendant over your island. Task lighting, like under-cabinet lights, will make chopping veggies and washing dishes much easier to do. This doesn’t apply just to the kitchen, though; bathrooms, offices, and even living rooms benefit from layering lighting. 
   Other dual-purpose items include cabinetry, which can be endlessly functional and beautiful, doors and windows, and appliances. Think about it: you want your fridge to hold all the food you require it to hold, but you’d also like it’s finish to match your other appliances, or you may even prefer to have a fridge hidden by a cabinetry façade. 

"What You Love is Always Beautiful."

    This last tip is the most important, at least in my opinion. While designing your home, you may come across a selection or piece of furniture that doesn’t seem to have any functional use at all. In those cases, I say: go for it! The balance between function and form does not happen by insisting upon each and every feature, finish, and furniture piece having both…it happens on a sliding scale that is unique to each homeowner and their household. 
    ​The end goal in designing a home, to put it very simply, is joy. While “joy” may initially come across as a frivolous consideration, let me ask you all this: is there not joy in having enough storage? Is there not joy in knowing your roof won’t leak? Joy can come from the functional, like a structurally sound building, rooms your furniture fits in, or the aforementioned storage. And we can’t forget the joy that comes from form, like painting your bedroom your favorite color, or decorating your walls with art you’ve collected over the years or even installing a pivot door (à la Bill Styczynski). 

---

By: Emma Halliday

Emma works as the Marketing Manager for Studio21 Architects. She is the writer behind (almost) all of our newsletter articles, and she works hard to make sure all of our marketing materials reflect an architect-approved design quality!