Parametric urban design exploration in a graduate design studio

Abstract

A city is a typical complex system that composed of billions of individual factors that interact with each other, and evolve dynamically. Parametric design method considers design conditions as the parameters of form generation, and introduces bottom-up emergent process in computers into architectural design. Because of such mechanism, it is supposed that parametric design can be applied in urban design problems, and brings rationality and creativity into urban design. In the year 2011, a joint design studio of Princeton University, Tokyo University and Tsinghua University is carried out. Graduate students from the three universities dive into the design of a micro-city that expands from Haneda airport in Tokyo bay area. The design studio in Tsinghua lasts for 16 weeks, and the students are asked to develop their ideas in a parametric way, and explore the potential of bottom-up generation of urban design using computer tools. © 2012, Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA), Hong Kong.