Parametric architecture: synthesis of aesthetics, functionality, and environmental efficiency

Abstract

The article explores functionality as one of the basic categories of architectural design, which is acquiring new significance in the context of the digital transformation of architectural practice. The authors emphasize that the traditional understanding of functionality as the rational use of space, ergonomic organization, and regulatory support can no longer respond to the challenges of urban complexity, climate change, new types of social interaction, and hybrid scenarios for the use of architectural space. In this regard, the focus is shifting towards dynamic, adaptive systems capable of changing in space and time in response to a wide range of variables. Parametric modeling is presented as an innovative approach to architectural design, allowing the design of relationships between form, function, and environment using algorithmic dependencies and variable parameters. This approach opens up the possibility of not only visual but also functional control of the object at the conceptual design stage. The article focuses on how parametric models allow for social scenarios, climatic conditions, user flow dynamics, and facility operating modes to be considered, providing flexibility in space and time. Examples of contemporary architectural objects illustrate how parametric models enable the integration of adaptive facades, transformable interior spaces, and microclimate control engineering systems. A separate section is devoted to the Ukrainian experience of using parametric methods in reconstruction and urban modeling, which is particularly important in the context of post-war reconstruction. The paper substantiates the prospects of introducing parametric thinking into architectural education as a tool for forming a new design culture focused on algorithmic, contextual, and interdisciplinary thinking. The article emphasizes that parametric modeling goes beyond a formal tool and becomes a methodological basis for modern sustainable and adaptive architectural thinking.