This project begins in the theoretical and methodological discussions emerging from the field of computational design in architecture. I discuss the role of software – specifically node-based visual programming tools like Grasshopper – as well as the view of previous digital design methodologies, like parametricism and discretism. 

I criticize the latter for a tendency toward a pseudo-functionalist approach in regards to aesthetics, and suggest that our form vocabulary could be expanded by borrowing tools and attitudes from ’generative design’, an approach more common in neighboring fields like music and game design. In these fields, randomness, discontinuities and digital materiality are being explored in a more open-ended way, without leaning on notions of correspondence or optimization. 

The design part of the project attempts to put these ideas into practice by introducing a handful of generative algorithms. Through a modular combinations of these, the relation between design methodology and node-based software is explored. Initially, simple diagrams or elements are generated, which are then compounded, expanded or modified bit by bit into larger scale. Later on, a naturalist landscape is created procedurally with simplex noise, producing a site which itself can generate programmatic criteria for architectural integration. The final result is an irregular building cell system, occupying a virtual space, following a set of interconnected rules, serving as an illustration of how a modular interplay between scales and algorithms can explore new ways of creating architecture.