002. Parametric Urbanism on the Thames Estuary

As found on the Zaha Hadid Blog, 'Form Informing Urbanism - Parametric Urbanism' is an animated film created by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher for the recent Global Cities exhibition at Tate Modern.

"The film presents a range of experimental design solutions for the Thames Gateway regeneration corridor to the east of London, based on “parametric” techniques pioneered by Hadid."

The Thames Gateway, one of Europe's biggest urban regeneration projects, is seen as a unique opportunity to create an urban laboratory for London, and explore new typologies to housing and urbanism, responding to the particular requirements of the site.

From the Commissions section of the Global Cities website:

"Hadid and Schumacher’s project is underpinned by research into the historic permutations of different building types in London and internationally. This information is presented in illustrated bands along the panels in their installation. They examine four main building types: individual villas, high-rise towers, slab-shaped buildings and city-blocks. These can be thought of as points, lines, planes, and volumes. Four rapid prototype models give examples of how each type might be dispersed in a landscape.

"Hadid & Schumacher use advanced computer modelling software to project these four building types over a base map of the Thames Gateway. They have adjusted this model to reflect the area’s current conditions, and used it to speculate on possible forms of future development. They have tested multiple combinations of the different building types, often fusing them to create hybrid structures. The outcome of these experiments is documented in a large-scale image with a range of striking new forms, and an animated sequence which shows the evolution of an intensely urban pattern across the area."

The animation presents an almost hynoptic dance as the four basic typologies are stretched and squeezed to create a range of forms at various densities and building heights. These are then applied to the site constraint and boundary conditions of the London Gateway. This modelling reminds me of the Game of Life, and other generative art experiments. There is an aesthetic Darwinism at work here, a form and function survival of the fittest.