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METHODS OF TEACHING PARAMETRIC DESIGN

FOR ARCHITECTURAL STUDENTS

RÉKA SÁRKÖZI, PÉTER IVÁNYI, ATTILA BÉLA SZÉLL

Réka Sárközi,UniversityofPécs,FacultyofEngineeringandInformationTechnology,Péter Iványi,PhD,

habil.,UniversityofPécs,FacultyofEngineeringandInformationTechnology,Attila Béla Széll,DLA,habil.,

UniversityofPécs,FacultyofEngineeringandInformationTechnology

Abstract

Theaimofthispaperistointroducetheteachingmethodutilizedinteachingarchitecturalstudentsto

parametricdesignattheUniversityofPécsinHungary.Thisisaspecialsubjectforvariousreasons.First

ofall,thisisaspecialkindofarchitecture,andalthoughitisnotcommonlyusedinarchitecturalpractice,

thestudentsshowincreasinginterestinthetopic.Ontheotherhand,usingparametricdesignrequires

skillsandcapabilities,whicharenotcommonlynecessaryforarchitects,thatiswhythepreliminary

subjectsdonotcoverthem.

Theaimoftheresearchwastodevelopacoursewhichwouldhelpstudentsunderstandandutilizethe

wayofparametricthinkinganddiscoverthepossibilitiesgivenbyparametricarchitecture,whiletheyalso

acquirethenecessarydigitalandlogicalskills,andlearntouseaparametricsoftware.Duringtheyears

thiscoursehavebeentaught,differentteachingmethodsweretestedwithdifferentsuccess.Itwas

studied,whichsolutionisthemostusefultoprovidethetheoreticalknowledgeofprogramming,data

managementandmathematicstoarchitecturestudents,whoarenotfamiliarwiththefirsttwotopics.

Theteachingofparametricthinkingisthemostcrucialpartofthecurriculum,andthesuccessofthe

actualmethodisclearlyvisible,whenthestudentshavetosolveproblemsontheirown,ortheyhaveto

defineataskwhichrequiresparametrictoolstosolve.

Thecurrentcurriculumoftheparametricdesigncoursecoversthebasictheoreticalandpractical

knowledgethatisnecessaryforstudentstouseparametrictoolsthroughthearchitecturaldesignprocess

andhelpstheirengrossmentinthisfieldofarchitecture.Thisgivesthestudentsauniqueknowledgeon

thelabormarketandadifferentpointofviewcomparedtowhattheyusedtoseeduringtheireducation,

andalsohelpsthespreadofparametricarchitecture.

Introduction

Parametricdesignisanewfieldofarchitecture,itrequiresnewcapabilitiesfromarchitects,andteachingparametricdesignconstitutesnewchallengesforteachers.

ThesubjectwhichcoversparametricarchitecturaldesignwascalledattheUniversityofPécs“Parametricconstructionaldesign”,“Parametricdesign”or“Constructionalskills(parametricdesign)”inthedifferentsemesters.ItisobligatoryforstudentsonArchitectureMScandArchitecturalArtMAmajorsandoptionalforbachelorstudents.Masterstudentslearnparametricdesigninthefirstsemesteroftheirmasterstudies.TheappliedsoftwaresareRhino3DandGrasshopper,whichisapluginforRhino.

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Fields of knowledge

Theknowledgewhatthissubjectshouldcoveranddelivertostudentscanbedividedintothreemainfields.Thefirstofthemistheapplicationofparametricdesignsoftwares.Thesecondmainfieldofknowledgeisparametricdesignthinking,whichisthecognitivemodelofthedesignprocess[1,2].Finally,therearesometheoreticalknowledgefromdifferentscientificfields,mostlyfrommathematicsandcomputerscience,whichisnecessaryforstudentstobeabletoapplyandunderstandparametricdesign,butthearchitecturalcurriculumdoesnotcoverthem.Theeducationmethodisbasedonthecombinedteachingofthisthreemainfields,andtheparallelteachingofpracticalandtheoreticalknowledge.

Parametric design thinking and using parametric design tools

Architects,engineersanddesignersstillkeepchangingthedefinitionof“Parametricdesignthinking”.AccordingtoOxman,thischangeisfundamentallybasedonthechangingandevolvingparametricdesigntools,andonthewayshowdesignersusethem.[1]ThismeansthathowthetoolsandabilitiesofdesignerschangeitchangestheirdefinitionofParametricdesignthinking.Thesameprocessisnoticeablebythestudents,whostarttolearnparametricdesign.Astheyuseparametricdesigntoolsandpracticetheapplicationofparametricsoftwarestheirabilitytounderstandandapplyparametricdesignthinkingevolves.Becauseitlaysoutthebasics,itisofextremeimportanceforstudentstobeabletoapplyparametricdesignthinking,butitisimpossiblewithoutusingparametricdesigntools.Teachingtheapplicationofparametricdesigntoolswithoutthetheoryofparametricdesignthinkingispossiblebutpointless,anditresultsthatstudentscanusethetoolsthemselvesbuttheycannotexploittheopportunitiesofthisdesigntool.Thisdemonstratesclearlythecloseconnectionandinseparabilityofusingparametricdesigntoolsandparametricdesignthinking,andshowsthattheteachingoftheapplicationofparametricdesignsoftwaresandthetheoryofparametricdesignthinkinghavetobeparallel,continuousandrelated.

Cognitive models: architectural design vs. parametric schema

Studentslearnthewayofdesignthinkingineachandeverysemesteroftheuniversity,foryearsbeforetheyknowparametricarchitecture.Theylearnhowtousetheircreativitytosolvearchitecturalproblemsandcreatespacesandbuildings.Theylearnthemethodofevolution,reflectionandre-editingandtheyidentifyitasacreativeandimpressiveprocess.AttheUniversityofPécsstudentsarenotallowedtousecomputersoftwaresforarchitecturaldesigninthefirsttwoyears,becauseteacherswanttoavoid,thattherulesandboundariesofthesesoftwareslimitthecreativityofthestudents.Theysolveeverytaskwiththemodificationandadaptationoftheirtypologicalknowledge[1].Byusingparametricdesignandmakingtheparametricschemeofabuildingtheyhavetodesignarulestructure[1],andforthefirstsightitseemstobethecompleteoppositeofwhattheylearnedforyears.Studentshavetothinkinrules,formulasandschemes,anditlookslikethatthisdesignprocessneglectscreativity.

However,thecreativeprocessofparametricdesignisthecreationoftherulesystem,theparametricschemeitself.Thefirststepofteachingparametricdesignthinkingisthedemonstration,thatthedesigneffectstherulesandnottheruleseffectthedesign.Duringthiscoursethestudentshavetolearnhowtodesignarule-basedsysteminsteadofanexperiment-baseddesign,whattheylearnedtocreateintheprevioussemesters[1].

Education method

Thesetupofthescheduleofthissubjectisseparatedintotwosegmentsorhalf-semesters.Inthefirst

onestudentslearnthetheoreticalandpracticalbasicsofparametricdesign.Theybuildaparametric

modeltogetherateveryclass,andeveryoneofthesemodelsisdestinedtodemonstratespecific

problemsandsolutions.Inthesecondpartofthesemesterstudentssolveanindividualtaskontheirown

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orinpairs.Ithelpstheyengrossmentinparametricdesign,testsandevolvestheirabilityofparametric

designthinking.

Exercise models

Theeducationmethodisbasedonthecombinedteachingofpracticalandtheoreticalknowledge.Studentsattentionisusuallyreduced,iftheyhavetolearnabiggeramountoftheoreticalknowledgeatthesametime,especially,iftheythink,itisnotnecessaryfortheypracticalwork.Moreover,architecturalstudentsareoftenafraidofmathematics.Becauseoftheseitisnoteffectivetoteachthetheoreticalknowledgefirst,andpracticelater.Forthisreason,duringeveryclassthestudentsmakeamodel,theylearnhowtousethesoftwareandmeanwhiletheylearn,howtosolveaspecifictypeofproblem,andwhattheoriesarebehindthem.TheexercisesareselectedfromthebookofArthuroTadeshi[3]andfromvariousinternetresources.

Figure1.Classtasks.Rotatingtowerandfreeformtruss-gridstructure.

Everyexerciseisstartedwiththedeterminationofthegoal.Itisaveryimportantstepintheeducationprocess,becauseithelpsstudentstothinkonthesolutionandimprovetheirskillsofparametricdesignthinking.Duringthepresentationoftheexercisestheexhibitionofparametricdesignthinkingiscontinuous.Beforethestartoftheexercisesolutionitisnecessarytodefinethebiggerlogicalstepsofthesolution.Makingthistogetherwiththestudentshelpsthemtoacquirethistypeofsolutionsearchingmethod.Withoutthetargetedteachingofparametricdesignthinkingstudentsoftenjustcopytheexercise,andtheycannotdevelopanoverallimageaboutthecurrentproblemandsolution.

Afterdefiningthetasks,theproductionoftheactualsolutionisthenextstep.Thisisthepartoftheexercise,wherestudentslearnthepracticalknowledge,howtousethesoftwareanditsparticularcommands.Onmostclassesthereisapartoftheexercise,wheretheoreticalknowledgeisnecessary,whichstudentsneverlearnedbeforeortheyalreadyforgetit.Thistheoreticalknowledgecanbecomefromthefieldsofgraphs,intervalsordatamanagement.Inthiscasethetheoreticaleducationappearslikeapartofthepracticalproblemsolving.Studentslearnthenewknowledgeandtheyimmediatelylearn,howtouseit.

Someoftheclasstasksarearchitecturalexamples,liketherotatingtowerandafreeformtruss-gridstructure(seeinfig.1.).Duringmakingtherotatingtowerstudentslearnhowtouseseries,domains,graphsandthedatamanagement,andtodesignthetruss-gridstructuretheyhavetousemeshesandunderstandhowthesurfaces’UV-coordinatesareused.Otherexercisesintroduceusefuldesignsolutions,whicharespecifictoparametricdesign,likeforcefieldandVoronoidiagram(seeinfig.2.).

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Figure2.Classtasks.ForcefieldandVoronoidiagram.

Individual tasks

Afterthesampleexercisesthestudentshavetoaccomplishanindividualdesigntask,whichhelpsthemtolearnthecreativeprocessofcreatingaparametricschema.Choosingthetaskitselfisachallengeforstudents.Theselectionofarightexerciseindicatesclearlyifthestudentsunderstandparametricdesignthinkingandiftheycanrecognizeinwhichtaskscanitbehelpfulforthem.Duringthedesignprocessthestudentscanexperimentandevolvetheirabilityofparametricdesignthinking,theylearntousetherighttools,andutilizetheirpossibilities.Astheirindividualtaskstudentscancreatecomplexbuildingdesigns,usingtheirpreviouslylearnedarchitecturaldesignknowledgeandthenewlyacquiredparametricdesignthinkingtogether(seeinfig.3.and4.).

Figure3.Student’swork.MadebyDalmaLovigandÁkosKarancz

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Figure4.Student’swork.MadebyKingaZsófiaHorváth,ErikaLuthárandGáborSzarvas

Summary and conclusions

Theintroducedteachingmethodleadsstudentsintotheworldofparametricdesign.Theylearnthebasicsofsoftwareapplicationandparametricdesignthinkingthroughtheclassexercises.Duringthecreationofanindividualdesigntaskstudentscandiveintheparametricdesign.Studentsareinterestedinthisnewfieldofarchitectureandtheyseethenewpossibilitiesofthisevolvingdesigntool.Afterthecoursethestudentsareabletocreateasimplerparametricschemaandtheypossesstheknowledgetobeabletoimprovetheirparametriccapabilities.

Acknowledgment

ThisresearchissupportedbytheÚNKP-17-3-IVNewNationalExcellenceProgramoftheMinistryofHumanCapacities.

References

Oxman,R.,2017.Thinking difference: Theories and models of parametric design thinking.DesignStudies

52,4-39.

Bhooshan,S.,2017.Parametric design thinking: A case-study of practice-embedded architectural research.

DesignStudies52,115-143.

Tadeshi,A.,2014.AAD Algorithms-Aided Design. Parametric strategies using Grasshopper.EdizioniLe

Penseur.ISBN978-88-95315-30-0