Architecture has always been adapting to the needs of societies and its social demands of living. With the technological advancement of architecture in the last century, it has gone through many short lived episodes such as Postmodernism, Deconstructivism and Minimalism. Le Corbusier believed that architecture through the use “the straight line and right angle allows man to conquer nature”, stating that; “the curve is ruinous, difficult and dangerous”. However evolving from the previous Avant-grade styles and entering the new digital age, technology allows us to generate, mimic and understand the “chaotic” order of nature through the use of digital tools such as design systems, scripting techniques simulation and form-finding tools.
Parametricism – A new Global Style for Architecture and Urban Design, written by Patrik Schumacher, the leading pioneer behind the development of parametrics, describes how architects can redesign urbanism through the use of these parametric design techniques. With the continuous complexity and new needs of a post-fordist society in urban space, parametrics is a new and widely used systematic design to understand complex form finding through a variations of morphologies. Optimising the urban layout while simultaneously allowing for mass customisation.
Parametrics allows for visual understanding of how a single element can affect the overall system of the design itself, whether this is on a small interior scale or the layout of an urban society. This is generated through complex models and lawful material computation. Schumacher believes that to continue Parametricism as the innovative way to design architecture, is by exploring and evolving its complexities and understanding. He explains by developing the sub-systems, deep Relationality (interior and exterior relations), Parametric Figuration, Accentuation and responsiveness allows for a highly developed system that will bring us into a new Avant-garde style architecture for the digital age.
In this new digital age of architecture, parametrics will undeniably become the next advanced and exciting way of generating designs both in an architecture and in urban scale. With the continuous and rapid advancement of technology only time can tell where Parametricism will lead us in the near future. However, I believe that Parametrics is not the “dominant, single-style for avant-garde practice today” as Schumacher states. But another aesthetical architectural form, generated by the help of modern technology in our digital age. Off course if Parametricism continues to develop, it can become a major style in multiple factions of design, but architecture is ever evolving and another “avant-garde style” can take its place in the near future.
The emerging idea of mass production in a post-fordist society where design in architecture allows for mass customisation, is an intriguing and exciting idea that I personally find very interesting. Everything must be designed for the general population, however architecturally each individual person wants their own customisation for both interior and exterior design of their home. The concept of Parametricism; general design with mass customisation is of great interest to me and I can see myself continuing to develop that concept in the near future.
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