Rethinking the Potentials of Computational Design: Experimenting with Reinforced Concrete

The advance of computational thinking paved the way for new developments in the field of positive sciences and made new, inter-disciplinary productions possible. In the field of architecture, computational thinking has become a major subject of research. It is not just a design tool. It is very much involved in the design process as an intelligent contributor and has the potential to reproduce the knowledge of design. In the last twenty-five years designs produced by using parametric systems came to be known as an architectural style because of its recognisable repetitive forms. This was not a positive reputation. Parametric systems came to be known as a tool just to create forms and therefore many designers did not prefer to employ it in their work. It is assumed that we are still at the beginnings of an era when increasingly more design and construction is expected to be done by using computational technology. In this article the potential of computational thinking is discussed based on observations during reinforce concrete design experiments. The project, which became our case study, employed computational technology for producing reinforced concrete structures and their moulds. A main objective for the design was to underline the fluidity of concrete while creating a three dimensional structural forms. The project employed a design process using parametric systems and a production procedure using traditional methods together with digital technology.