Designing the Design

In recent years, computational approaches in architecture started to change the scope of the architect’s work. He/she is not any more a passive tool user instead, became a casual tool developer. Conventional CAD systems that focus on geometric representation of a designed artifact, are transforming into systems in which the design is represented as a parametric process. By increasing utilization of these systems in architectural design process, parametric modeling is integrated not only as a new medium of design representation, but also as a design method.

Designing the design implies designing the design procedure on geometric and on procedural level. Parametric methods force procedural representation in which the resulting form is the end result of a designed procedure. Parametric modeling methods require a higher level of abstraction than in traditional processes of designing. At the representational level, a designer must understand new concepts such as the logic of computer programming, parametric diagrams of a generative process, and a set of mathematical tools such as descriptive geometry and linear algebra. He / she must explicitly develop relationships between design components and code them into the abstract diagram. Any parametric modeling process requires a great deal of explicit knowledge and effort upfront to create a parametric diagram which defines relational structure of the design components. This approach educates the student to be an active rather then passive learner by providing a mechanism to structure his / her thoughts.

Çolakoğlu, B., Yazar, T., [2009]; “Designer as Casual Coder: Overview of an Experimental Design Studio”, Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural Design in Europe, 27th eCAADe Conference Proceedings: Computation: The New Realm of Architectural Design,  B. Çolakoğlu and G. Çağdaş [eds.], Session:13 CAAD Curriculum 2:449-454, September 16-19, 2009, İstanbul, Turkey