The Parametric and Building Information Modelling upon Architectural Design Practice
Gao Yan
Abstract：The Parametric and bIm have become the two popular words often mentioned by architects. It was only about five years ago when few actualy understood what they were, but nowadays almost everyone can talk about them. Whereas, the Parametric has been regarded as the representative of complex form, meanwhile, there are many versions of bIm interpretation in China. Some even stack up the Parametric and bIm, as wel as many other popular words such as Non-linear, and Algorithmic, somehow exposing the significant malposition of the purposes and the processes of applying the digital techniques. In order to comprehend what is the Parametric, bIm, and their relationships, we must discuss themin the context of architectural design practice. This article starts from investigating the comprehensive meaning of the Parametric and bIm based upon the understanding of generalized design activities. Then, it employs the Four Quadrants framework by Ken Wilber to elaborate the relationships between bIm and design, between the Parametric and design, and between the Parametric and bIm, before looking forward into the future directions. In the end, the conclusion was summarized as that no matter the Parametric or bIm, they are al the vehicles but not the destinations, the processes but not the purposes. Only when we understand their relationships upon architectural design practice, can we improve the colective efficiency and the design qualities of the team without constraining individual designers’ intuitive and heuristic creativities.
Keywords：generalized parametricbuilding Information modelingarchitectural designfour quadrantsinformation management and communicationintuitive creativityautonomous generationvarious possibilities
Publication Date：2014-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：11( 4-14 )