Parametric design

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Parametric design is a design method in which features, such as building elements and engineering components, are shaped based on algorithmic processes rather than direct manipulation. In this approach, parameters and rules establish the relationship between design intent and design response.^[1][2][3] The term parametric refers to the input parameters that are fed into the algorithms.^[1]

While the term now typically refers to the use of computer algorithms in design, early precedents can be found in the work of architects such as Antoni Gaudí. Gaudí used a mechanical model for architectural design (see analogical model) by attaching weights to a system of strings to determine shapes for building features like arches.^[3]

Parametric modeling can be classified into two main categories:

Propagation-based systems, where algorithms generate final shapes that are not predetermined based on initial parametric inputs. Constraint systems, in which final constraints are set, and algorithms are used to define fundamental aspects (such as structures or material usage) that satisfy these constraints.^[4] Form-finding processes are often implemented through propagation-based systems. These processes optimize certain design objectives against a set of design constraints, allowing the final form of the designed object to be "found" based on these constraints.^[4]

Parametric tools enable reflection of both the associative logic and the geometry of the form generated by the parametric software. The design interface provides a visual screen to support visualization of the algorithmic structure of the parametric schema to support parametric modification.^[5]

The principle of parametric design can be defined as mathematical design, where the relationship between the design elements is shown as parameters which could be reformulated to generate complex geometries, these geometries are based on the elements’ parameters, by changing these parameters; new shapes are created simultaneously. ^[6]

In parametric design software, designers and engineers are free to add and adjust the parameters that affect the design results. For example, materials, dimensions, user requirements, and user body data.  In the parametric design process, the designer can reveal the versions of the project and the final product, without going back to the beginning, by establishing the parameters and establishing the relationship between the variables after creating the first model.^[7]

In the parametric design process, any change of parameters like editing or developing will be automatically and immediately updated in the model, which is like a “short cut” to the final model.^[8]