form follows function...

and ornament is a crime. Principles once embraced and followed by Les Courbusier, Viennese modern architectAdolf Loos, Alvar Aalto, and other modernists. From a time when plain, simple steel water towers were seen as good examples of 'simple' design, (as recently as 1984), to design fantasy where Furniture Designer, Patrik Fredrikson says, "As we penetrate ever deeper into the digital age, we are leaving behind modernism's driving imperative - mass production by industrial means". His work, recently on display at the London Design Festival featured a table made from materials such as ice, and candles for which the stick and holder were both made from wax. Working with ceramicist Ian Stallard, Patrik calls their work "fairy tales for grown-ups". Are they functional, impractical, or a stepping stone to new ideas?