Parametric Strategies in an Architectural Design Workshop

Digital instruments are among the means of production of architecture. This improved productivity and reduced errors and inaccuracies in architectural design; however, in the case of parametric design, there is the risk of mistaking tools that may improve the overall quality of architecture for an approach that, as intrinsically scientific, guarantees quality architecture. This misunderstanding may characterise students’ first experience with parametric modelling. Therefore, a workshop has been developed as a seed to unfold the formal potentiality of parametric modelling with limited methodological bias and to inform on what to expect from parametric modelling. The workshop results show a preference for some parametric strategies over others. This tendency can be linked to those morphologies that, due to collective bias, are perceived as parametric; Consequently, the importance of working simultaneously on technical competence and cultural aspects of parametric architecture emerges as a necessity