The Politics of Parametricism
Digital Technologies in Architecture
Published on 22. October 2015
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-4725-8166-2 (ISBN)
Description
Over the last decade, 'parametricism' has been heralded as a new avant-garde in the industries of architecture, urban design, and industrial design, regarded by many as the next grand style in the history of architecture, heir to postmodernism and deconstruction. From buildings to cities, the built environment is increasingly addressed, designed and constructed using digital software based on parametric scripting platforms which claim to be able to process complex physical and social modelling alike.
As more and more digital tools are developed into an apparently infinite repertoire of socio-technical functions, critical questions concerning these cultural and technological shifts are often eclipsed by the seductive aesthetic and the alluring futuristic imaginary that parametric design tools and their architectural products and discourses represent.
The Politics of Parametricism addresses these issues, offering a collection of new essays written by leading international thinkers in the fields of digital design, architecture, theory and technology. Exploring the social, political, ethical and philosophical issues at stake in the history, practice and processes of parametric architecture and urbanism, each chapter provides different vantage points to interrogate the challenges and opportunities presented by this latest mode of technological production.
As more and more digital tools are developed into an apparently infinite repertoire of socio-technical functions, critical questions concerning these cultural and technological shifts are often eclipsed by the seductive aesthetic and the alluring futuristic imaginary that parametric design tools and their architectural products and discourses represent.
The Politics of Parametricism addresses these issues, offering a collection of new essays written by leading international thinkers in the fields of digital design, architecture, theory and technology. Exploring the social, political, ethical and philosophical issues at stake in the history, practice and processes of parametric architecture and urbanism, each chapter provides different vantage points to interrogate the challenges and opportunities presented by this latest mode of technological production.
Reviews / Votes
The Politics of Parametricism is the book I have been waiting for; it stands alone as the best attempt yet to comprehensively understand this 'movement for the 21st century'. Most importantly, it is the first book to critically contextualise Patrik Schumacher's contributions to architectural theory, and to seriously respond to his claims ... Politics engages and explores Parametricism with great care ... [and] has done much to untangle the mess of misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the architect's frequently controversial positions. -- Jack Self * The Architectural Review * Parametricism is the best and most comprehensive definition of the new technical object of the digital age. Is there a politics of parametricism? Is it different from the politics of the technical object of the industrial age? The answer is yes, of course. The essays in this book also prove without doubt that, in the age of parametricism, politics itself is different from what it was before the digital turn. -- Mario Carpo, Reyner Banham Professor of Architectural History and Theory, The Bartlett, UCL, UK Patrik Schumacher writes here that in parametricism participation in political controversy must be taboo. Against this prohibition, the other contributors to The Politics of Parametricism skillfully prise open his argument to reveal the controversial politics - of control, power and the market, of representation, calculation, and simulation - within. A significant and timely intervention, this collection reaffirms the power, potential and necessity of architectural critique. -- Douglas Spencer, Architectural Association School of Architecture, UKMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
45 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
587 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4725-8166-2 (9781472581662)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Matthew Poole is a curator of contemporary art and a curatorial theorist. He currently works at California State University San Bernardino, where he is the Chair of the Department of Art.
Manuel Shvartzberg is an architect and researcher. He is currently based in New York City where he is a Researcher at The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, GSAPP and a Graduate Fellow of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, both at Columbia University, USA.
Manuel Shvartzberg is an architect and researcher. He is currently based in New York City where he is a Researcher at The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, GSAPP and a Graduate Fellow of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, both at Columbia University, USA.
Content
1. Introduction
Matthew Poole, Freelance Curator/Writer, UK and Manuel Shvartzberg, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
2. The Historical Pertinence of Parametricism and the Prospect of a Free Market Urban Order
Patrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
3. On Numbers, More or Less
Reinhold Martin, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
4. There is No Such Thing as a Political Architecture; There is No Such Thing as Digital Architecture
Neil Leach, USC School of Architecture, USA
5. Parametricist Architecture Would be a Good Idea
Benjamin Bratton, University of California, San Diego, USA
6. 'Play Turtle, Do It Yourself': Flocks, Swarms, Schools, and the Political-Architectural Imaginary
Manuel Shvartzberg, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
7. Breeding Ideology: Parametricism and Biological Architecture
Christina Cogdell, University of California, Davis, USA
8. Speculation, Presumption and Assumption: The Ideology of Algebraic-to-Parametric Workspace
Matthew Poole, Freelance Curator/Writer, UK
9. Undelete: Recreating Uncensored Archives
Laura Kurgan & Dan Taeyoung, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
10. Architecture as Disputing Calculations: Notes for a Pragmatic Reframing of Parametricism and Architecture
Andres Jaque, Andres Jaque Architects: Office for Political Innovation, Spain
11. Parametric Schizophrenia
Peggy Deamer, Yale School of Architecture, USA
12. The Architecture of Neoliberalism
Teddy Cruz, University of California, San Diego, USA
13. Parameter Value
Phillip G. Bernstein, Autodesk, USA
14. Spinoza's Geometric and Ecological Ratios
Peg Rawes, Bartlett School of Architecture, UK
Index
Matthew Poole, Freelance Curator/Writer, UK and Manuel Shvartzberg, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
2. The Historical Pertinence of Parametricism and the Prospect of a Free Market Urban Order
Patrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK
3. On Numbers, More or Less
Reinhold Martin, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
4. There is No Such Thing as a Political Architecture; There is No Such Thing as Digital Architecture
Neil Leach, USC School of Architecture, USA
5. Parametricist Architecture Would be a Good Idea
Benjamin Bratton, University of California, San Diego, USA
6. 'Play Turtle, Do It Yourself': Flocks, Swarms, Schools, and the Political-Architectural Imaginary
Manuel Shvartzberg, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
7. Breeding Ideology: Parametricism and Biological Architecture
Christina Cogdell, University of California, Davis, USA
8. Speculation, Presumption and Assumption: The Ideology of Algebraic-to-Parametric Workspace
Matthew Poole, Freelance Curator/Writer, UK
9. Undelete: Recreating Uncensored Archives
Laura Kurgan & Dan Taeyoung, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA
10. Architecture as Disputing Calculations: Notes for a Pragmatic Reframing of Parametricism and Architecture
Andres Jaque, Andres Jaque Architects: Office for Political Innovation, Spain
11. Parametric Schizophrenia
Peggy Deamer, Yale School of Architecture, USA
12. The Architecture of Neoliberalism
Teddy Cruz, University of California, San Diego, USA
13. Parameter Value
Phillip G. Bernstein, Autodesk, USA
14. Spinoza's Geometric and Ecological Ratios
Peg Rawes, Bartlett School of Architecture, UK
Index