Parametric Design
What is parametric design?
Parametric design is driven by some kind of data or parameters. When changing the value, it allows you to generate new designs similar to the original but differs enough to meet any number of needs or constraints. Parametric design allows the designer to encode knowledge and intent into the design plans to make the end result of a product and its production more adaptable.
There are lots of products out there that benefit from parametric design. Furniture is one product category that I think would benefit from parametric design because when the layout is replicated for different sizes. This is because as a customer, you want the right size of your product, and when there is only one size option, the customer might have to turn to a totally different product because the size of the original product doesn’t meet their needs. Having the ability to alter dimensions of products like furniture can make it easier for customers to meet their needs.
Another product that could benefit from parametric design is architecture. This is because parameters allow them to set relations between design elements to define multiple formal alternatives. It makes the design process of architects and engineers more efficient and gives them more control and the ability to achieve conceptual integrity on every surface. Another benefit for architects to use parametric design is that it provides more accurate results for the design parameters, and in addition it also lowers the costs, leads to less material waste, less transportation of products, and more efficient use of labor. Architects do not have to redraw a model whenever it needs to be changed because the parametric design allows them to change the shape of model geometry by modifying the dimensions or curvatures.
The third product category that I found and think would benefit from parametric design is car parts. This is because it enables designers to build these products in an interactive and non-destructive way, making the process more time-efficient and also more unique. I also think it would be cool for customers to be able to interact with a 3D model and change it in real-time to explore different design variants. Having interactive product configurations that users and clients can play with is could create a fun experience and also allows them to fine tune the designs and create their own designs by using different combinations of parameters.
Next, I came to identify three creatives that are making exciting forms, objects, products, installations, or artifacts within parametric design.
Ribbon-like parametric wall created by Softroom
An architect studio in London named Softroom created six lounges for Turkish Airlines inside Istanbul Airport. These lounges are linked by a ribbon-like parametric wall that is close to a mile long.
They called it the Flow Wall, and it runs throughout 19,000 square meters of lounge space inside the Airport. Softroom describes it as an “intuitive route that transcends barriers of language and culture.” The studio explained the experience they wanted to give visitors as: “passengers will move effortlessly through zones, and the form of the wall will relate this experience to the lightness and the dynamism of air travel.”
Softroom created this design in 30 weeks by using parametric design to allow you to test different outcomes of a design concept within a set of parameters.
The architects used Rhino CAD software to make the Flow Wall, controlled by grasshopper scripting. The parametric script allowed them to customize the soothing of the wall’s curves and the number of light strips and also provided a real-time preview of the wall’s final shape.
Y Parametric table by Krystian Kwienciński
Krystian Kwiecinski, a Warsaw designer, created a dining table where consumers are able to manipulate the dimensions of the finished product on his website. Components are water jet-cut from one single sheet of plywood according to the customer’s specifications and then slotted together. The table was created so that customers could easily customize it.
The webpage allows customers to change the dimensions, geometry, and materials of the table to fit their specific needs and preferences. By using the water jet technology to cut all the components from a single sheet waste, production time and energy is minimized, which results in an efficient and streamlined process. The designer uses parametric modeling and automated fabrication designs to quickly move from concept to delivery more smoothly and continuously than ever.
Great Things to People studio built machine that generates pottery objects
Great Things to People is a studio in Chile that built a machine to generate pottery objects by using a complementary version of parametric design.
The printer is called a Catenary Pottery printer and consists of a wooden frame from which sheets of gauze, lycra, or muslin can be suspended and used to solidify slip in a mold to create ceramics. Clay or slip in liquid form is poured into the fabric that drips through and leaves a thin layer behind that solidifies into a small dish. The digital parametric design would generate forms depending on the action of a computer algorithm in response to different data. The system brings about forms depending on the behavior of the textile in response to various physical conditions.
Similar to parametric design, different results are achieved by changing the set of variables. In this case, factors included the number or position of anchor points for the fabric, the stretchiness of the textile and the amount and weight of liquid slip, or the drying time and viscosity of the clay type. According to Guillermo Parada: “This is part of an exploration on how to create standard machines that generate non-standard results, mixing analog numerical control with traditional material and techniques integrated into one real-time process. Parametric design is not necessarily a digital computation methodology.” This project is interesting to me because they use parametric design without computers and digital fabrication laboratories that arise dialogues from academic contexts to communities of artisans. The designers used this machine to create candle-holders, lamps, and tableware. They suggest that they can make bigger objects like furniture by scaling-up the process and by using resin or lost-wax casting.
Exploring the field of parametric design was very interesting for me, and I was also impressed with all the different things you can do with it. Parametric design can be applied across a variety of different scales and for different users making products more customizable to fit the customer’s needs and desires.
