Form and Function, Order Indefinite

Unscrupulous architects notwithstanding, structure is critical in the construction of a building. If a building collapses in on itself, it is completely useless. Not only that, but it cost a significant amount of resources to construct and will cost even more to repair. Even worse, there is the potential that in the action of collapsing inhabitants of the building were injured or beyond. In short, nobody wants a building to collapse without very good reason, none the least of which being the architect of said building.

Girders and trusses and the like keep the roof of the Irwin Indoor Practice Facility from falling in

In the case of the buildings we looked at, the structural systems of the buildings largely followed their functions. In all of Huff Hall, the Indoor Practice Facility, and the Armory, the roof slopes in some way to be highest in the very middle, so that players shooting basketballs or hitting volleyballs or throwing footballs or soldiers firing arms or what-not would not be impeded by (or destroy) the roof. To accomodate this, the Armory has its powerful joists connected by a single pin in the middle. Huff Hall, despite its pillars that impede view of the floor from particular angles, follows suit with its support system above the floor as well.

Irwin does this as well, though a little differently. Whereas the Armory's and Huff Hall's structural systems (again, aside from those pesky pillars) seem to be designed more or less to follow the usage of the building and not a whole lot else, Irwin's structural system adds a new constraint. In order to keep the building from appearing like a large wall between the sports areas and the art and law buildings across the street, the architect had to find a design that still allowed for a sloping roof but sloped so severely at one end of the long axis that it was not very high. In fact, they actually sort of designed around one half of a fairly large dome, with the center near or at the end of the building closer to Memorial Stadium and the rest cut off by the wall on that side.

The main joists near the center of the "fairly large dome" that Irwin forms half of.

Thus, the architect of Irwin modified the form of the building not only to follow its utility but the psychological effect it would have on the surrounding area. Form follows function, both intentional and not. Of course, there's a little more to it than that; legend has it that, viewed from the sky, the ridge down the center of Irwin that the main joists work to form make the building look like a football (the ridge makes the lacing, while the slope of the roof gives the general shape of the top of a football). Accounting for that, form and function blend together in a clever ambiguity. The architect all but certainly designed the building to have a sloping roof in order that people could play ball inside without the roof getting in the way, but they also used this requirement cleverly to make the design something a little special too. Form still follows function, but muddied up a bit. I just wish I could find an aerial picture of the building to see whether or not it really is true.