"[4] Parametricism rejects both homogenization (serial repetition) and pure difference (agglomeration of unrelated elements) in favor of differentiation and correlation as key compositional values.

Parametricism emerged as a theory-driven avant-garde design movement in the early 1990s, with its earliest practitioners – Greg Lynn, Jesse Reiser, Lars Spuybroek, Kas Oosterhuis among many others – harnessing and adapting the then new digital animation software and other advanced computational processes that had been introduced within architecture much earlier by pioneers like John Frazer and Paul Coates, but that only spread to make an impact within avant-garde architecture in the last 10–15 years.

"[6] Early instances of proto-Parametricism, as manifest through the prolific generation of innovative designs and radical experiments within the transitional styles of Deconstructivism and Folding - including the work of the discipline's discourse leaders such as Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Wolf D. Prix, Bernard Tschumi, and Daniel Libeskind[7] - were later radicalized by younger practitioners who matured in the context of these early practices, and stabilized the discipline around prolonged research programmes thriving on emerging digital technologies, and culminating in the emergence of Parametricism.

Parametricism offers functional and formal heuristics based on set of general abstract rules distilled from a very complex ecosystem of sustained avant-garde design research that spans over twenty five years of continuous innovative communication.

[8] Throughout his career, Frei Otto conducted research focused on constructing light-weight, tensile structures through form-finding physical models that performed analog "material computation".

One of the earliest built examples, the Water Pavilion (1993-1997), by Lars Spuybroek (NOX) and Kas Oosterhuis (ONL), was the first building to combine continuous geometry with the utilisation of sensors throughout the interior, creating an interactive environment (also known as responsive architecture) where light and sound could be transformed by visitors.

[10] Among the most critically acclaimed and stylistically defining of the earliest projects is the Yokohama International Passenger Terminal (1995-2002), designed by Foreign Office Architects (FOA), headed by Farshid Moussavi and Alejandro Zaera-Polo.

[12] Among the most celebrated and stylistically defining of the early built projects is the Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects starting in 2000.

It has become "an instantly recognizable landmark" and "centerpiece of emerging Central Business District in the city of Dalian, bringing a parametric design to the edge of the Bay of Korea.

[18] The dynamically fluid, modulated vector field articulated on the exterior enclosure correlates the level and direction of natural light penetration to the organizational spatial distribution of the interior spaces.

The back-lit facade, "described by the designers as 'a field of pixilation and perforation patterns'...[transforms] from a solid entity by day into an animated light show by night".

[20] Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal 2 in Mumbai, India, designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill and completed in 2014, serves over 40 million people yearly.

Examples of projects that fit the Parametricism 2.0 paradigm and are currently in the design phase include Google's California Headquarters by Bjarke Ingels (BIG) and Thomas Heatherwick (Heatherwick Studio),[24] Beijing New Airport Terminal Building in Beijing China by Zaha Hadid Architects - which will be the world's biggest airport terminal,[25] Harbin Cultural Center in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China by MAD Studio,[26] and Earthly Pond Service Center International Horticultural Exposition by HHD-FUN.

Curated by an international team consisting of Daniela Ghertovici (ArchAgenda, Chicago), Patrik Schumacher (Zaha Hadid Architects, London) and Lars van Vianen (Scape Agency, Amsterdam), the platform aims to discuss the current discourse and future direction of the style.