090818 Parametricism - Is it really the next great architectural style?

Quoted from superjim from pushpullbar.com on 26.01.2009

"...Hello all, I have been asked to write a paper as a response to some of the ideas presented at this year’s Venice biennale, with particular regard to the ideas put forth by Patrik Schumacher. I noticed on this thread that there were a number of people interested in getting into a discussion about the theories and processes involved in parametric design so I thought I'd pose the question here and see if we can get a discussion going.

Patrik Schumacher (Partner at Zaha Hadid Architects and Co-director of AADRL (AA Design Research Lab) recently set out what he described as the Parametricist Manifesto at the 11th Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. At the outset of this manifesto he states that Parametricism is the next great style after Modernism (he argues that Postmodernism and Deconstructivism were merely episodes ushering in what he describes as a "new, long wave of research and innovation.") - I will not go too much into what Schumacher talks about as you can read the full piece on his website at here, suffice to say that Schumacher's writings are both challenging and thought provoking.

I’m not going to go into much depth on describing parametric so this thread may only be of interest to those with a prior knowledge or experience of it, but if you’d like to get involved then here’s a wee bit to get you going.

A little about Parametricism-
Parametricism approaches the idea of architecture from a new angle, suggesting that we create a complete system that embodies every aspect of the design process, and that architecture should not be split up and dealt with in separate scales that do react to each other. Rather that all the information within an architecture is linked and reacts and changes in correspondence with every element of the building.

Imagine, for example, a highly complex spreadsheet, where each value is linked to corresponding values which are in turn linked to others etc etc. Now, when you change one value, this has an effect on the entire spread sheet, calculated by pre-determined parameters but defined by each value equally. Parametric design links the information used to design buildings in a way not too dissimilar to a complex spreadsheet - a change in one value creates a corresponding change in all other values. The building shifts and evolves as a whole, not as separately considered elements.

Again, an example of the use of Parametricism in architecture can be found in this project. Here you can see the use of what is fast becoming (in my opinion) the most powerful tool in the realm of parametric, Rhino/rhino script/associated plug-ins.

Now I know that’s a lengthy post and the subject is a very complex one (some of you will have no idea what I’m on about but don’t worry feel free to investigate the subject and see where you stand) with many aspects into which we could dip but for the sake of this thread id like to limit the discussion to the question- Is Parametricism the next great architectural style OR are parametrics simply a door to a new wave of creative tools that will merely inform and allow the next architectural style to evolve? ..."

Pushpullbar
http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/architecture-design-theory-news-discussions/10250-parametricism-really-next-great-architectural-style.html

Parametricism - after reading a few articles questioning the ethical issues and methodology and also style, I have a basic thought on what Parametricism is, can be, and will be.

Parametricism, is simply a tool or methodology for architects or related designers to use and to aid them to push what I called "the limit of abstraction" to reality. From the well-said definition from the previous post, parametricism is a rationalised system mimic what the nature is all about. (heaps of discourses have been written on this) Often, you would hear someone is talking about Bio-mimicry, organic architecture or the like. These so-called style or trend is a subset of parametricism. Parametricism is not a style, yet, it may constitute to a new style which will become a (sooner or later) digital architecture movement. Certainly, at the moment and from what I see, parametricism is merely a trend of system for architects and designers to use. And it will never become a style. What a style is, I believe, is a popular collective trend where everybody believes that "I need to acquire this [object] so that I'm "in-the-style"' Considering software engineering, they often called themselves the designner of system (Look at Autodesk, Rhino, Adobe, etc.), which I hereby raise a intuitive question for everyone to think about. Are they the designers of the future or we are? Are we the designers of the future using other designed tools to design the future? Will that become a combination of the both which create new "stuff"? In that sense, can we still claim for copyright and originality? These questions might sound straight forward yet worth thinking of how our "career" or how "architecture" will become. Parametricism, it's not that hard to accept, certainly not acceptable for those who is obsess about it. It is, after-all, a tool.