What is the history of parametric design?
Its origin lies in the aviation and automotive industries, where design variants have been generated via computers for decades. In architecture, it began around the 1990s at leading firms such as Zaha Hadid Architects. In the last ten years, the step has been made to real estate development, where parametric design supports not only aesthetics but also profitability and sustainability.
Parametric design has its roots in high-tech industries such as aviation and automotive, where engineers have long relied on computer models to generate and test countless design variants. In architecture, pioneers like Zaha Hadid Architects and Foster + Partners began applying these methods in the 1990s to explore complex forms that would have been nearly impossible to design manually. This early adoption proved how rules and parameters could drive creativity and efficiency simultaneously. Over the past decade, parametric design has expanded into real estate development, where the focus goes beyond aesthetics. It now enables developers, municipalities, and investors to evaluate profitability, sustainability, and livability at the same time. OMRT plays a role in this shift by integrating parametric techniques with financial and engineering data, ensuring that the innovative origins of the method directly contribute to more feasible and future-proof urban projects.