Theories of Parametric Design
Course Description
The theoretical implications of parametric or generative modeling remain underdeveloped within the larger and longer theoretical discourse of architecture and landscape architecture. Typically it is the output of the software that is the subject rather than how its processes engage design thinking. With the amazing power of these programs comes an even greater need for a theoretical foundation to ground and develop ways to think about what to do and then how to do it. This task, however, cannot be effectively undertaken without a substantial engagement with the software itself.
This course will work in a hybrid mode, oscillating between theoretical speculations, experimental modeling, and exploratory fabrication so that several modes of working and thinking can inform one another to advance understanding of the possibilities. The primary computing platform will be Rhino and its Grasshopper plugin.
Course operations:
Introductory readings and discussions about theories of architecture directed towards how things at various scales (detail, room, landscape, city) are put together. This will occur alongside the development or acquisition of skills with the Grasshopper program so that theoretical speculation can be attached to and generated from an understanding of the operations underlying the software.
Short hybrid projects combining writing, parametric modeling, and CNC fabrication will initiate areas of research for more substantial exploration.
