The Nature of Design

Book excerpt: In his classic work, first published in 1964, David Pye considers the varied elements that go towards good design, and investigates the scientific nature of function and its tenuous relationship to form. He explores the priority of economy, physical components, and manufacturing technique, and he clarifies the relative utilitarian and aesthetic roles of design. In his introduction to this second edition, craft scholar Ezra Shales revisits Pye's brilliant refutation of “form follows function” and functionalism – battles that he dropped in 1978 because they seemed settled. Today's enduring interest in Modernism makes Pye's 1964 text seem more prescient and even postmodern, because in it he questions industrialization and positivism. The second edition is illustrated with new images, including several of Pye's own work as a maker, and of artists and makers who have been influenced by Pye's practice.