PARAMETRIC DESIGN SEMINAR
Faculty:
Marta Malé-Alemany
Shane Salisbury (assistant)
With the support of:TECNOCIM / Missler Software Corporation
(image by former iaac postgrad student Manos Zaroukas)
The seminar is dedicated to investigate the role of the computer in the production of architecture, and its capabilities to change established design paradigms. In particular, the seminar will focus on the alternative possibilities that emerge from parametrics and associativity, emphasizing them as conceptual and development integrated tools that are linked to a different design mentality. It will give students an understanding of the theoretical and practical implications of parametric design, and the ability to think and develop an architectural project through principles of variation and adaptability.
With this intention, the class will explore associative parametric CAD-CAM environments, with software used in fields like mechanical engineering or aerospace industry, which offers capabilities that cannot be found in other software traditionally used by architects. Based on the paradigm of relationships rather than the objects themselves, working with associative parametric CAD-CAM environments offers an alternative design practice. These tools imply a fully integrated and interactive design process, because changes can be made at any moment, their effects can be perceived in real-time, and the consequent adjustments are simultaneously propagated through all other associated files. By offering ways to interactively assimilate and manipulate different types of data, associative parametric CAD-CAM tools can merge environments that are normally disconnected in traditional design processes (i.e. design and manufacturing), thus providing a convergent, multi-dimensional idea of design.
The research aspects of this seminar will be developed and deployed through the resolution of an exercise in 6 phases, framed by theoretical lectures and specific software tutorials.