Environmental Catalysts for a Computational Urbanism

It is perhaps no longer relevant to discuss digital tools purely as means in themselves; the growth of abstract systems or computational patterns for their own sake simply strain justification in light of real-world concerns such as climate change and economic crises. While growing concerns over climate change have necessitated an increased interest in sustainable urbanism and design, sustainability has done little to yet alter the morphological and typological consequences of architectural space (Hardy, 2008). In a series of overlapping research projects and design studio briefs, students, research assistants and we worked with the iterative and variable processes of Rhinoscript, McNeel’s Grasshopper and Bentley’s Generative Components to explore the possibilities of changing environmental extremes (specifically flooding) as catalysts for providing new urban morphologies and spatial organizations. Working between the master plan and the individual housing unit, we investigated arrays of terrace homes in the London Thames Valley flood zones while simultaneously exploring the potential for computational generation and parametric optimization.