Parametric design

[1] While the term now typically refers to the use of computer algorithms in design, early precedents can be found in the work of architects such as Antoni Gaudí.

Instead of manually calculating the results of parametric equations, he could automatically derive the shape of the catenary curves through the force of gravity acting on the strings.

[12] Computer technology has provided designers and architects with the tools to analyze and simulate the complexity observed in nature and apply it to structural building shapes and urban organizational patterns.

In the 1980s, architects and designers began using computers running software developed for the aerospace and moving picture industries to "animate form".

Creators produce a prototype, test it, tweak it, and repeat the cycle with the goal of getting closer to the solution.

Examples may include varying the size and shape of a floor plate as one builds a skyscraper, or changing the angle of a modular cladding system as it is tiled over an undulating surface.

Using a fluid parametric system, which can give immediate feedback, a designer can generate solutions and test them rapidly by iterating through many possibilities, each created with a different set of parameters.

[18] Parametric processes can help optimize pedestrian or vehicle circulation, block and façade orientations, and instantly compare the different performances of multiple urban design options.

With the development of technology and the improvement of people's quality of life, there are more and more factors that affect the final result of interior and furniture design.

It allows you to create visual scripts or definitions that describe a design through a series of relationships between operations, geometries, and other data.

Like any programming environment, Grasshopper allows you to create algorithms, or sets of instructions, for telling a computer what to do.

In traditional, text-based programming, these instructions are written using text that follows strict formatting rules and has a specific vocabulary for describing computer operations.