We have translated the recent Italian edition sent to us by Asger Jorn, itself a translation from the Danish.
Functionalists ignore the psychological function of surroundings. . . .
The appearances of the buildings and of the objects that we use and that form our environment have a function that is separate from their practical use. Because of their concepts of standardization, Functionalist Rationalists believed that it was possible to attain ideal, definitive forms of the different objects useful to people. Developments to date have shown that this static conception was mistaken. It is important to understand that this conservatism of forms is thoroughly illogical because it is not the result of not knowing what an object's definitive form is, but rather of the fact that people are upset when they do not find some element of deja vu in an unfamiliar phenomenon. . . . The radicalism of forms is a result of the fact that people are saddened when they do not find some unexpected element in the known.