Functionalism

Hans Ulrich Obrist: So Global Tools was also a revolt against Funtionalism?

Ettore Sottsass: Not against it. We tried to go beyond it, let's say. We were never against anyone. I come from the Functionalist school, Gropius, Le Corbusier. When I was young they were my myths and I've never forgotten them, I've never despised them. But I've always thought this wasn't enough, that we could go much further. To those generations the word "functional" meant ergonometics more than anything else, the relationship between the human body and the physical space, a relationship based on measurement. But to me "functional" means, for example, that red is functional to the Communist party because it has a red flag, or the fact that, say, functionality often involves issues that can't be measured.

From HuO: Hans-Ulrich Obrist: Interviews, a rather remarkable book, 1000 pages of interviews with some of the more interesting people in the worlds of art, architecture, design, philosophy and science.