Week 10 Reading - Parametrics Explained

In the ever changing world of technology, digital design is constantly evolving, and although we have had CAD systems in Architecture for some time, it is only recently that we have really discovered two distinct and potent design sensibilities; parametric and algorithmic design[1]. However, the term parametric design tends to be used loosely. Parametric design is a term used to describe a variety of disciplines from mathematics through to design; it literally means working within parameters of a defined range[2]. Software that aids parametric design is highly efficient for remodelling forms, and afford greater control in the design process[3]. Architects that are known for their parametric design approach include the work of Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry. Algorithmic design on the other hand is a term used to describe the use of procedural techniques in solving design problems. An algorithm is a simple instruction[4]. Basically, algorithmic design refers specifically to the use of scripting languages that allow the designer to step beyond the limitations of the user interface, and to design

through the direct manipulation not of form but of code[5]. Quite simply, “algorithmic techniques are based on the use of code. Parametric techniques are based on the manipulation of form. They are therefore quite distinct techniques.” [6]  As these two techniques are being developed, architects such as Zaha Hadid and Patrick Schumacher believe that this could potentially be a new “style” of architecture[7]. Schumacher states in an article ‘Parametricsim’, that “There is a global convergence in recent avant-garde architecture that justifies its designation as a new style: parametricism. It is a style rooted in digital animation techniques, its latest refinements based on advanced parametric design systems and scripting methods.”[8]

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[1] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 1

[2] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 2

[3] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 2

[4] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 2

[5] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 2-3

[6] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 4

[7] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 5

[8] Leach, Neil, “Parametrics Explained”*, in Scripting the Future, Tongji UP, 2012. Page 5

Week 9 Reading - Theories of the Digital in Architecture – The Orders of the Non-Standard

Non-standard Architecture is trying to break the boundaries of the traditional understanding of rationalism, rationalisation, technicism and engineering[1]. By doing so people are hoping to identify the most accurate apprehension of the mutation of the processes of conception and production of architecture[2]. In a constantly changing world and environment today we are often introduced to new computer software, and in terms of architecture it is opening a generative domain, an algorithmic culture opening the potentialities of complex morphogenesis and complex geometries[3], that once upon a time may not have been possible. From this, many different interpretations and theories arose, challenging the original critical dialogue[4]. One of the first interpretations of this came from the field of American neo-structuralism[5] whereby the transcript of changed and focused on the typologies and morphologies[6] of Architecture. Edmund Husserl’s approach tried to define the ‘vague morphological entities’[7], focusing on formal and material, and opening the way to a radical logicisation of ontology[8]. Gilles Deleuze’s theory of multiplicities was bound to a mathematisation defined from differential calculus. The valuation of a generic immanence imposed a new understanding of the singularisation[9]. Rene Thom had a dynamic understanding of morphogenesis, where non-standard analysis was the tool[10], and he understood the relationship between mathematics and nature, creating an integration of infinite in the numbers to define the signalisation of a form or motive[11]. “The standard is established on solid foundations, not arbitrarily, but in the secure knowledge of things motivated and logic controlled by analysis and experimentation.”[12]

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[1] Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[2] Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[3]Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[4]Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[5]Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[6]Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[7]Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[8] Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 17

[9] Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 19

[10] Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 19

[11] Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 19

[12] Migayrou, Frédéric, “The Order of the Non-Standard: Towards a Critical Structualism,” in Theories of the Digital in Architecture, edited by Rivka & Robert Oxman (2014), Page 32

EXP 3 - News Article Mash Up

EXP 2 - Final Images

EXP 2 - Applying Textures to the Model

EXP 2 - 36 Custom Textures

EXP 2 - Rectilinear Form Interacting With Curvilinear Form

Sketching ways of adding curved geometry - Working on ways for creating a practical/more purposeful development

Large Scale Design (Neri Oxman)

Cybernetic (Cedric Price)

EXP 2 - Three Interconnecting Projections

EXP 2 - Modelling Concepts

EXP 2 - Axonometric Drawings

EXP 2 - Architectural Concepts

EXP 2 - Inspiration