Algorithmic Precedents

exploring the creative potential of the reuse and adaptation of parametric models

Abstract

This research investigates the computational logic behind parametrically generated architectural forms, aiming to create new models based on logical principles analogous to the analyzed cases. It starts from the premise that there is an intrinsic relationship between architectural form and the mathematical rules that produced it, allowing for the inverse hypothesis: by analyzing forms generated through parameterization, it is possible to identify and reproduce the underlying computational logics. Understanding the generative mechanisms of a geometry has the potential to enable the identification, adaptation, and transfer of logical elements from a design precedent that can be reused and adjusted in new design situations, producing distinct geometric variations generated by similar or analogous logical principles. The research takes place in two stages: first, three architectural examples whose formal logics allow parametric modeling are selected; then, it investigates how parametric models can generate new forms by reusing and adapting elements of the computational logic of these precedents through the establishment of design analogies.