Parametricism + Urbanism

Architecture and its styles have been ever changing through time, the basics of parametricism was first discovered in the 1990’s but however it had only come into effect with in the past several years with the advances in architecture and its parametric design systems. Parametricism has today become the new style architects use mostly in urbanism. This shift from modernism to parametricism was seen as a change from simple or orderly placing to complexity. It had evoked not only into the urban scale but also to smaller interior design concepts, from the understanding of the natural systems in nature to the application of these concepts into architecture.

Architecture and urbanism have been adapting to the needs of societal demands of the post-fordism era, through a continuous cycle of innovative adaptation.  However, architecture is called upon to organize and articulate the increased complexity of post-fordist society. This parametricism is possible through a series of highly defined parametric design techniques, which are animation, simulation and form finding, parametric modeling and scripting. However these techniques have brought in more complexity and kinetics to the designs and concepts. The style and form keeps changing with the manipulation of a single element in the system.

Parametricism may seem like the perfect solution for urban design and city planning, but it can only exist with endless advancements in computational geometry.  The techniques used for parametrics are nevertheless widely used and are in the stages of further development.

Regular variations of morphologies create a huge effect and help produce dominant urban effects and enables field alignment. Parametric Urbanism might include parametric rhythm, parametric figuration, and parametric sensitivity to realize its objective of rationality. Urbanism follows the concept of occupying and connecting. With parametricism it is able to simulate the settlement patterns and further understand the path networks.

Through parametrics one can understand how the change in a single element could affect the whole system and how these changes could be manipulated to further study their properties. Complex orders of chaotic patterns could be generated through this advanced technique of simulation.

The author uses the example of magnetic needle and polystyrene to explain the idea of urban landscape. The small pieces come together making up a complex urban settlement. In my opinion parametrics can best be applied into urban landscapes rather than interiors. As I believe when applied to urban scale it has a value and function to it, rather than when being applied to interior or small scale projects it is mostly for aesthetic purposes.

I am interested in understanding the pros and cons parametrics can bring about in the planning of a city, or how parametrics could affect the future of architecture. Could it lead or give way to a more self-sustainable or functional city rather than a city build for aesthetics purposes. In my opinion parametrics also helps to create a better navigation flow and build a socio economic infrastructure. However, I believe the advances in technology have made it possible to create infinite possibilities for architecture and urban planning through the digital simulation techniques.

Case Study: Yokohama Terminal FOA Architects / F. Moussavi, A. Zaera-Polo

Text: Parametricism – A New Global Style for Architecture and Urban Design - Patrik Schumacher, London 2008

Picture Source: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2009/05/25/complexcity/

Case Study: Wall House – FAR Architects

Text: “Primitive Future” – Sou Fujimoto

The Wall House by FAR Architects conveys how architecture is related to environment and it’s surrounding. The careful placing and arrangement of spaces could give richness to the space. The infinite inbetween spaces create endless possibilities and functions within the space.

The design explores how the traditional wall could be split into numerous layers and how these layers could contribute to social interaction and climatic relations. “Bringing the outside in and taking the inside out”.

The house has several layers of spaces, the most inner or the most reserved space being a dense ‘concrete cave’ or the manmade “artificial cave”. This layer consists of the bathrooms or the wet areas of the house. The second layer is the stacked layer made of formwork panels and plywood. This area has some closed and some open areas, entailing of the kitchen and the dining areas. These spaces are arranged in such a away that the orientation give an assured amount of privacy and openness to the resident. The subsequent layer being the milky shell or the translucent skin of the house consists of living and the master bedrooms. This layer offers a more natural impression to the house by conveying more natural light and casting shadows from the proximate natural elements such as the trees. The milky shell acts as a cloud crafting unintended views of the outside.

The material density diminishes as one approaches out and the most outer layer being the soft skin or the energy screen. This layer expresses the relation to thermal zones in advanced architecture. This is the layer where the inside and the outside most blend together.

The house is designed in such a way that one feels that the wall is fading away and is drawn more towards nature. From a solid inner core to a soft delicate skin. The Wall House is the correlation of material and functional aspects with the environmental aspects in advanced architecture.

The relations between the artificial and the natural elements in nature are best described in the article by Sou fujimoto, “Primitive Future”. The transition from one point to another or the “Gradation” of spaces where functionality comes into reality.

By incorporating environmental relations into innovative architecture, architects have been able to invent more functional and habitable spaces that blends with nature. Thus, the inside and the outside are merged through the soft skin to create a more rich architecture. The transition architecture gives quality to a space and hence this is the ultimate concept of today’s advanced architectures.

City as a House. I believe the relational logics in advanced architecture could be applied to city planning and designing if we think of city as a small-scale house. For my personal research I am more interested in incorporating these relational logics to a “large-scale city” by thinking of the city as a “small-scale house”. By careful layering of different elements of a city and understanding how these elements could work “separately” and also “together” at the same times to create a better architecture. Where humans mingle with the surrounding nature and where nature fuses with artifice. Towards creating a self-sufficient city through the merging of natural, cultural, social and informational or technological logics.

Picture Source: http://krobarch.com/images/winners/2007/entry942.jpg