A parametric multi-criterion housing typology

Architecture firms and developers often use computers to streamline the documentation and construction processes; however, these firms often fail to engage computers with a process of design that goes beyond standard representation and documentation. Although this has increased the efficiency of the traditional approach to architecture, an alternative methodology has the potential to further adapt the computer’s role in architecture, making it and its explicit logic a more integral part of the generative design process. New computational methodologies can be used to embed the nature of architectural design within a system of internal parametric representations (Yessios 2003). This new process allows for the creation of computationally designed systems where an interactive framework aids in the design process. This paper discusses parametric design methods being used to generate housing types based on multiple criteria of site constraints, typological features, and pragmatic housing functions and details.