Form over function

Form over function, this is a recurring phrase one hears when in any design school learning the basics of designing a space, a product or a palette which they choose to draw or create.  Steve Jobs of Apple has been quoted many times for being a strict man when discussing this topic to his design team and his engineers.  I've read articles about him that, if it were up to him, he'd have no buttons or visible seems on his button-up shirts or polos etc.  He was stating his claim of just how much he cares for form when discussing any one of his Apple computers or anything else.  

Form is something that should not dominate, but rather, work in harmony with the function of the object or space which you're creating.  This can be seen in oragomy, Tai Chi (or any martial art), yoga, cars, anything really.  

When reading, "The Brain has a Mind of Its Own" Dr. Restak states this discussion of form and function in terms of the brain and body.  Form, proportion, perfection, harmony--these are the elements that lead to something more---they lead to beauty, the one untouchable, yet tangible feeling we all seek; whether a garden, a good looking watch, car, house, etc.

In his book he states that given one's activities, and as the brain ages, the body is affected; "a person's walk, speech, and posture change."  I've seen this true in my yoga practice, just as Restak saw from his Tai chi practice.  Restak was furthering his argument that the mind, not the brain, but the mind and the body are one.  When you begin to use both in conjunction with the other given a certain exercise you become more in touch with yourself and your movements and see first hand just how intimate the mind and body can become.

I will give an example of this from another book i've recently read, titled, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, a journalist for Men's Health magazine, wrote this book which describes many different findings about the science and art of running.  In chapter 28, McDougall talks about the Kalahari Bushman, a small tribe in Africa who still hunt kudu (a cousin of the antelope).  In the book, McDougall interviews, Louis Liebenberg, a math and physics junkie who wanted to find his own way of doing things.  So he went to hunt with the Bushman.  "I had a vague gut feeling that the art of animal tracking could represent the origin of science (233)."

"When tracking an animal, one attempts to think like an animal in order to predict where it is going.  Looking at its tracks, one visualizes the motion of the animal and feels the motion in one's own body.  You go into a trancelike state, the concentration is so intense.  It's actually quite dangerous, because you become numb to your own body and can keep pushing yourself until you collapse, Louis said (235)."

McDougall, in response, says, "Visualization...empathy...abstract thinking and forward projection: aside from the keeling-over part, isn't that exactly the mental engineering we now use for science, medicine, the creative arts? 'When you track, you're creating causal connections in your mind, because you didn't actually see what the animal did,' Louis said (235)."

Restak, who practices Tai chi, gave this quote from his instructor, "After you do the form often enough, something marvelous happens: You and the form become one.  Finally it begins to do you (70)."

So, what activities are transforming you?  or making you either more in harmony or less in harmony with yourself?  Do you believe that your activities could benefit or deny your relationships with those you have and those you've yet created?