Performance Aided Design: tradition and development of tectonic design process

The paper present the methodologies and tools developed in the framework of Performance Aided Design (PAD), a term that indicates the shift in the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools from a mere translation in a digital environment of the operations once carried on paper, to an evolving paradigm where the increasing integration of parametric tools and performative analysis is changing the way we learn and design. The term Performance Aided Architectural Design (PAD) is proposed at the Master of Science of Architecture and Design at Aalborg University, with the aim of extending a tectonic tradition of architecture with computational tools, preparing the basis for the creation of the figure of a modern master builder, sitting at the boundary of the disciplines of architecture and engineering.

Performance Aided Design focuses on the role of performative analysis, embedded tectonics, and computational methods tools to trigger creativity and innovative understanding of relation between form material and a increasingly wide range of performances in architectural design. The ultimate goal is to pursue a design approach that aims at embracing rather than excluding the complexity implicit in the design process, and use it as a source of inspiration for developing unique, innovative, adapted to the context design solutions.

The paper will describe the roots of Performance Aided Design, the outline of its development, and the tools being developed as plugin for Grasshopper, the parametric design environment of McNeel´s Rhinoceros.