Decoding Luigi Moretti's Architettura Parametrica: Negotiating Theory and Practice in the Forecasting of Computer-Aided Architectural Design - Hardcover

by Giuseppe Canestrino (Author)

Decoding Luigi Moretti's Architettura Parametrica presents an unprecedented critical discussion of one of the earliest theoretical and practical explorations into the integration of scientific thought, mathematical models, and digital tools in architectural design.

Moretti, a renowned professional who engaged in countless intellectual initiatives, developed and refined his architectural vision long before "parametric" became synonymous with computational design. His Architettura Parametrica is an unconventional inquiry of the prospects offered to design practice by digital thinking rather than by digital tools, which were still immature or completely absent at the time. Moretti proposed a unique and still relevant mental landscape that united his fascination with Baroque spatiality, operational research, informal art, optics, cybernetics, ethics, and much more. This research decodes numerous facets of Architettura Parametrica, from the rigid theoretical precepts to the negotiation with design praxis, from the use of equations to aid the research of forms to the speculation on the meaning of architecture through abstract mathematics.

This book offers novel perspectives to scholars interested in the interplay between architectural design practice and theory, mathematics and design methods, digital and architectural culture, and to the growing number of practitioners who are crafting personal narratives within the most disruptive computational techniques.

Author Biography

Giuseppe Canestrino, Architect and PhD, is an adjunct professor and postdoctoral research fellow in Architectural Design at the University of Calabria. He has previously been a guest researcher at Delft University of Technology and a visiting PhD at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. His primary research interest lies in exploring the relationship between digital culture, formfinding, and architectural design also through the investigation of scientific and logical processes for solving design problems. His critical-theoretical research informs his professional practice, in which he engages through participation in design competitions, gaining various victories and honourable mentions. He is the author of La Concezione Parametrica dell'Architettura (trad. The Parametric Conception of Architecture, 2024) and his writings have been published in The Journal of Architecture, The Plan Journal, Nexus Network Journal, Agathòn, Storia Urbana, U+D - Urbanform and Design, and Metamorfosi, among others.