The central contention was that the form of an object should be dictated by its function. The Bauhaus, for example, aimed to "derive the design of an object from its natural functions and relationships," so that they could be used effectively and were rationally related to each other.
Of course, the pursuit of functionalism complemented the Modernists' aim to arrive at ideal design solutions - unless objects fulfilled their purpose they could scarcely be ideal. This led to the notion that a designed object could be beautiful if, and only if, it functioned perfectly. Function therefore replaced appearance as the prime criterion of aesthetic quality. Artistic embellishment was eschewed in favour of clear form that both expressed its purpose and ensured that this purpose was fulfilled. Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, in their discussion of "European functionalist" architects (i.e. canonical Modernists), wrote that, "If a building provides adequately, completely and without compromise for its purpose, it is then a good building, regardless of its appearance."
This possibility was not fully explored until the influence of Modernism had spread and produced a diversity of practitioners. Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, a master and later principal of the Bauhaus, was one such figure. As a Constructivist Moholy-Nagy was naturally more receptive to the ethic of geometry, structure and function than was Johannes Itten, his predecessor on the Bauhaus foundation course. Itten had been dismissed by Gropius, who had grown dissatisfied with the former's mysticism and interest in Mazdaznan. To the increasingly machine-orientated Bauhaus Moholy-Nagy imparted his belief that the machine was inextricably linked with socialism because it was an absolute. He wrote: "Before the machine, everyone is equal - I can use it, so can you . . . There is no tradition in technology, no consciousness of class or standing. Everybody can be the machine's master or slave.'
