Project 1- Form and Function
Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois (1951) Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Modernist architect Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe believed “form follows function”. The goal of this project was to
create a bridge using that concept. The bridge had to span 190 ft and shift in
a way that allows a 30 ft wide by 40 ft high object to pass through. The bridge
had to be designed using the function to determine the final design of the
form. I found inspiration in common objects from around the house, and in the
forms of already designed bridges. In the beginning stages, I used a truss
bridge and a cable stay bridge to base my designs off of. In the final design
stages I found that using a truss style bridge morphed to accommodate the
required functions worked better than a cable stay bridge.
