Politics of Parametricism

Matthew Poole is a curator of contemporary art and a curatorial theorist. He currently works at California State University San Bernardino, where he is the Chair of the Department of Art.Manuel Shvartzberg is an architect and researcher. He is currently based in New York City where he is a Researcher at The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, GSAPP and a Graduate Fellow of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, both at Columbia University, USA.

• 1. IntroductionMatthew Poole, Freelance Curator/Writer, UK and Manuel Shvartzberg, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA2. The Historical Pertinence of Parametricism and the Prospect of a Free Market Urban OrderPatrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadid Architects, UK 3. On Numbers, More or LessReinhold Martin, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA4. There is No Such Thing as a Political Architecture; There is No Such Thing as Digital ArchitectureNeil Leach, USC School of Architecture, USA5. Parametricist Architecture Would be a Good IdeaBenjamin Bratton, University of California, San Diego, USA6. 'Play Turtle, Do It Yourself': Flocks, Swarms, Schools, and the Political-Architectural ImaginaryManuel Shvartzberg, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA7. Breeding Ideology: Parametricism and Biological ArchitectureChristina Cogdell, University of California, Davis, USA8. Speculation, Presumption and Assumption: The Ideology of Algebraic-to-Parametric WorkspaceMatthew Poole, Freelance Curator/Writer, UK9. Undelete: Recreating Uncensored ArchivesLaura Kurgan & Dan Taeyoung, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Columbia University, USA10. Architecture as Disputing Calculations: Notes for a Pragmatic Reframing of Parametricism and ArchitectureAndrés Jaque, Andrés Jaque Architects: Office for Political Innovation, Spain11. Parametric SchizophreniaPeggy Deamer, Yale School of Architecture, USA12. The Architecture of NeoliberalismTeddy Cruz, University of California, San Diego, USA13. Parameter ValuePhillip G. Bernstein, Autodesk, USA14. Spinoza's Geometric and Ecological RatiosPeg Rawes, Bartlett School of Architecture, UK Index

The Politics of Parametricism is the book I have been waiting for; it stands alone as the best attempt yet to comprehensively understand this ‘movement for the 21st century’. Most importantly, it is the first book to critically contextualise Patrik Schumacher’s contributions to architectural theory, and to seriously respond to his claims ... Politics engages and explores Parametricism with great care ... [and] has done much to untangle the mess of misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the architect’s frequently controversial positions.