From Design to Data: 12 Examples of Parametric Façades

Written by Julia Daudén | Translated by Maria Erman
Published on May 04, 2020

The digitization of production and technological resources linked to the development of increasingly sophisticated tools has a direct impact on the contemporary practice of architecture and urbanism. Thinking about cities and buildings based on the digital assumption provides great possibilities for innovation in terms of design, optimization of resources and processes, improvement in performance and monitoring the maintenance of work, among other aspects. Many tools are already available, ranging from artificial intelligence to 3D printing, through various devices that change the paradigms of the profession and demand a new attitude when designing.

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Among the tools at hand today, one of the most widespread resources is the incorporation of parameterization in design stages. As the name suggests, it is a process that is organized based on the definition of reference parameters that contribute to specifying a model or geometric object. It is present in the majority of the most used software among offices and can represent an advantage for projects of all scales and programs. A notable example of the possibilities that its use opens up refers to the creation of innovative forms and patterns that project architecture to a notion of the future in terms of language. See below for selected projects that form a set of façades proving the infinite possibilities that the use of parameterization represents for the design of buildings.