Parametric Modeling as a Design Representation in Architecture: a process account

Disciplines outside of engineering, for instance, architecture, are adopting parametric modelling as a design representation. This paper reports on three aspects of the adoption process, which is largely being conducted through multi-day workshops outside of formal university course settings. Fist, the structure and process of such workshops may be a model for interdisciplinary learning and university-industry liaison. Second, students learning parametric modelling must master skill different from that required for non-parametric representation. Third, the parametric modelling strategies being developed in architecture may have both similarities and differences to those used in engineering.