The Parametricism Style?

Zaha Hadid Architects: Heydar Aliyev Center

Herzog de Meuron: Hamburg Elbphilharmonie

Patrik Schumacher, a longtime partner at Zaha Hadid Architects, wrote Parametricist Manifesto about a decade ago. He writes: “As a style, parametricism is marked by its aims, ambitions, methodological principles, and evaluative criteria, as well as by its characteristic formal repertoire.” [archdaily]

He goes on to explain that he foresees difficulty in categorizing parametric architecture into a specific architectural style, so, he pushes for a conceptual reconstruction of what we mean by ‘style’. In other words, we can’t limit our classification of parametric architecture only on appearance, but need to understand that style includes how the design was conceived.

I was a bit put off by his manifesto because I feel like he’s trying to establish parametricism as an exclusive thread of architecture to self-promote the work of Zaha’s office and himself. He knows inherently that parametric architectures will not look similar, so he strives to unite them by their process.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding is that parametric design processes should serve as a single tool in the diverse toolbelt of an architect. They should be used or leveraged  when necessary, but should not serve as a one size fits all approach to making, classifying, or even critiquing architecture.