PARAMETRICISM

DIGITAL APPLICATION IN ARCHITECTURE

SUBMITTED BY :
NISHAT KHAN
PAYAL GUPTA
VARDHA GROVER
YASHI MITTAL
Objective :
To explore the scope of parametric design in field of architecture
WHAT IS PARAMETRICISM?
■ Parametricism is a style within contemporary avant-garde architecture, promoted as
a successor to post-modern architecture and modern architecture. The term was
coined in 2008 by Patrik Schumacher, an architectural partner of Zaha Hadid
(1950-2016). Parametricism relies on programs, algorithms, and computers to
manipulate equations for design purposes.

■ Parametric design is a process based on algorithmic thinking that enables the

expression of parameters and rules that, together, define, encode and clarify the
relationship between design intent and response.

■ A design that is governed by certain logic which includes algorithms (to devise the
logic) and these algorithms further include certain parameters which can be varied
to see multiple outcomes. (Mostly to do with geometry of the structure)
EXAMPLE OF PARAMETRIC DESIGN
AROUND US
■ You sketch a design of a table
making length , width and
maybe height variable. By
changing three numbers you
will get infinite number of
designs that share the same
design intent. A lot of those
tables will be nonfunctional
and you will either have to
constrain your design or add
some logic ( algorithms ,
procedures ) so that the
design adapts to the
parameters by changing its
starting design slightly , lets
say by thickening of the
sections or changing the
material properties.
In his design for the Church of Colònia Güell, Antonio
Gaudi created a model of strings weighted down with
birdshot to create complex vaulted ceilings and arches. By
adjusting the position of the weights or the length of the
strings he could alter the shape of each arch and also see
how this change influenced the arches connected to it. He
placed a mirror on the bottom of the model to see how it
should look upside-down.

Features of Gaudi's method:

Gaudi's analogue method includes the main features of a
computational of a parametric model (input parameters,
equation, output):
■ The string length, birdshot weight and anchor point
location all form independent input parameters
■ The vertex locations of the points on the strings being
the outcomes of the model
■ The outcomes are derived by explicit functions, in this
case gravity or Newton's law of motion.
EARLY EXAMPLES
■ A model of stadium by Luigi Moretti. Exhibited at the
1960 Parametric Architecture exhibition at the Twelfth
Milan Triennial. The stadium derives from a parametric
model consisting of nineteen parameters
■ Moretti uses the design of a stadium as an example,
explaining how the stadium’s form can derive from
nineteen parameters concerning things like viewing
angles and the economic cost of concrete
SOFTWARES:
SKETCHPAD- FIRST PARAMETRIC SOFTWARE
■ Sutherland (1963) wanted to create a system that
enabled “a man and a computer to converse”
■ Sutherland harnessed the computational power to
create Sketchpad, the first interactive computer-aided
design program.
■ Using a light pen, a designer could draw lines and
arcs, which could then be related to one another using
constraints. These constraints contained all the
essential properties of parametric equations. Users
could experiment and explore different designs by
altering the parameters of an entity and let Sketchpad
do the calculations and redraw the geometry
according to the constraints imposed upon it.
AUTODESK REVIT
AUTODESK REVIT (ARCHITECTURE)
AUTODESK REVIT (STRUCTURE)
AUTODESK REVIT (MECHANICAL)
AUTODESK NAVISWORKS (USED FOR CLASH DETACTION)
AUTODESK DYNAMO
■ Dynamo is an open source graphical programming environment for design. Dynamo
extends building information modeling with the data and logic environment of a
graphical algorithm editor.
CATIA

■ CATIA (Computer Aided three-

dimensional Interactive Application)
was used by architect Frank Gehry
to design some of his award-
winning curvilinear buildings such
as the Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao.
■ Gehry Technologies, the technology
arm of his firm, have since created
Digital Project, their own parametric
design software based on their
experience with CATIA.
AUTODESK 3DS MAX
■ Autodesk 3ds Max is a parametric 3D modeling software which provides modeling,
animation, simulation, and rendering functions for games, film, and motion
graphics. 3ds Max uses the concept of modifiers and wired parameters to control its
geometry and gives the user the ability to script its functionality.
AUTODESK MAYA

■ It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video games, animated

film, TV series, or visual effects. Maya exposes a node graph architecture. Scene
elements are node-based, each node having its own attributes and customization.
As a result, the visual representation of a scene is based on a network of
interconnecting nodes, depending on each other's information. Maya is equipped
with a cross-platform scripting language, called Maya Embedded Language.
GRASSHOPPER 3D

■ Grasshopper 3d (originally Explicit History) is a plug-in for Rhinoceros 3D that

presents the users with a visual programming language interface to create and edit
geometry.

■ Components or nodes are dragged onto a canvas in order to build a grasshopper

definition. Grasshopper is based on graphs (see Graph (discrete mathematics)) that
map the flow of relations from parameters through user-defined functions (nodes),
resulting in the generation of geometry. Changing parameters or geometry causes to
changes to propagate throughout all functions, and the geometry to be redrawn.
FAMOUS ARCHITECTS
■ Peter Eisenman, ■ Frank Gehry, ■ Rem Koolhaas,

■ Wolf D. Prix, ■ Bernard Tschumi, ■ Daniel Libeskind

EXAMPLES OF PARAMETRIC
ARCHITECTURE
■ The most complex and important built projects
designed in the style of Parametricism were
completed after the global financial crisis of
2008.
■ Coop Himmelb(l)au's Dalian International
Conference Center in Dalian, Liaoning, China, was
completed in 2012. It has become "an instantly
recognizable landmark" and "centerpiece of
emerging Central Business District in the city of
Dalian, bringing a parametric design to the edge
of the Bay of Korea. The dynamically fluid,
modulated vector field articulated on the exterior
enclosure correlates the level and direction of
natural light penetration to the organizational
spatial distribution of the interior spaces.
■ The Louis Vuitton Foundation was designed by Gehry Partners between 2006-2014. It is
considered "a catalyst internationally for innovation in digital design and construction, setting a new
standard for the use of advanced digital and fabrication technologies". The web-hosted, parametric,
intelligently adaptable three-dimensional digital model enabled a team of over 400 people to
contribute to it. More than 3,600 glass panels and 19,000 concrete panels that form the façade
were simulated using mathematical techniques and molded using advanced industrial robots, all
automated from the shared 3D model. New software was developed specifically for sharing and
working with the complex design.
■ Constructed on the edge of a
water garden created
especially for the project, the
building comprises an
assemblage of white blocks
(known as “the icebergs”) clad
in panels of fiber-reinforced
concrete, surrounded by twelve
immense glass “sails”
supported by wooden beams.
The sails give Fondation Louis
Vuitton its transparency and
sense of movement, while
allowing the building to reflect
the water, woods and garden
and continually change with
the light.
■ Dongdaemun Design Plaza, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects with Samoo, a major
urban development landmark in Seoul, South Korea. The project resulted in the
2010 designation of Seoul as the World Design Capital. The most innovative state-
of-the-art fabrication techniques were used in shaping the "45,000 aluminium
panels of varying sizes and curvatures". The back-lit facade, "described by the
designers as 'a field of pixilation and perforation patterns'...[transforms] from a solid
entity by day into an animated light show by night".
■ he DDP façade cladding system is an exemplary result of such a
process. Construction the exterior envelope of DDP was a
challenge as the cladding system consists of over 45,000
panels in various sizes and degrees of curvature. This was
made possible by the use of parametric modelling with an
advanced metal-forming and fabrication process to develop a
mass-customization system. Parametric modelling enabled the
cladding system to be designed and engineered with much
greater cost and quality control. Throughout the construction
process, the cladding model was adjusted to incorporate
various engineering, fabrication, and cost controls while
maintaining the integrity of the original design. The completed
façade incorporates a field of pixilation and perforation
patterns, which creates dynamic visual effect depending on the
lighting conditions and seasonal changes. It will take on
different characters as the external condition changes.
Sometimes, it will look as a singular entity; sometimes, it blends
with the surrounding landscape as part of the complete
ensemble of Dongdaemun. At night, the building will reflect all
the LED lights and neon signs of the surrounding buildings. With
the interplay of the built-in façade lighting, the building’s
appearance will be animated and take on the characteristics of
its unique urban settings.
■ Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal 2 in Mumbai, India, designed by
Skidmore Owings and Merrill and completed in 2014, serves over 40 million people
yearly. The terminal is designed to accommodate traditional Indian departure and
arrival ceremonies, and the complex veriagated patterns incorporated in the
architecture at all scales are reminiscent of native regional patterns.
CONCLUSION
■ One of the most obvious benefits to parametricism is cost saving. The parametric design
process has enormous potential to save time and money through its ability to automate
changes in a building model or drawing set.
■ Programs like Revit have already incorporated this kind of automation, allowing changes
to multiple elements (such as door and window types) by altering a single variable
controlling the height, width or material.
■ In more complex projects with detailed or unconventional features, automation can be
achieved through plug-in programs like Grasshopper or Dynamo. These scripting
programs are able to create relationships between project parameters that allow one to
change in response to changes in others. For instance, a building’s façade may be
supported by a structural frame—if the façade were to increase in size or shape,
Grasshopper could be used to ensure the frame’s structural members increased in size
and shape proportionally to accommodate that change. Scripts like these save modelers
the effort of going in and making changes manually, and increase the efficiency of the
project. All this has made practical design easy and efficient.
THANK YOU