E. H. Gombrich's Adoption of the Formula form Follows Function: A Case of Mistaken Identity?

• Authors: Jan Michl
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article is a longer note on what is a minor problem in the oeuvre of a great art historian. Its theme is E. H. Gombrich's use of the formula form follows function as the summary of his commonsense approach to the problem of style change. Although I am not sure how interesting this inquiry is in an art historical context, from the perspective of my own field of design history and of modernist design theory, Gombrich's adoption of the formula constitutes an intriguing problem.

Keywords

EN

design theory; "form follows function"; modernism; functionalism; E. H. Gombrich; H. W. Janson

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Human Affairs
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 274-288

Dates

published

2009-09-01

online

2009-09-24

Contributors

author

Jan Michl

• The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, P.O. box 6768, St. Olavs Plass, n-0130 Oslo, Norway

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10023-009-0041-9