Parametric Thinking: Recognizing the "Architectural Formulas" in Cultural Built Heritage by Parametric Digital Modelling

Parametric digital modeling is today one of the most interesting tools on the international architectural design scene. At the same time it is one of the areas on which architectural criticism debates for some time. The use of parametric methods throughout the whole design process is favored by the rapid evolution of hardware and software devices and the everincreasing programming capabilities. However, the so-called Parametric Architecture has revealed its existence even before the digital revolution. Parametric Architecture is a definition coined by Luigi Moretti in the '40s. Furthermore, several scholars have found examples of parametric thinking from the origin of the history of Western architecture. The idea of verifying the existence of a "parametric thinking" in the Cultural Built Heritage, recognizing the parameters that could have guided the architectural composition and re-creating their relationships using tools of parametric digital modelling is the focus of the present proposal. It follows, deepens and develops a research carried out on the atria's vaults of several Baroque palaces in Turin.