Digital design tools and notably parametric ones have generated profound modifications of the architectural practice. In line with this evolution, technological and formal changes at the scale of architectural artifacts are underway, leading to a shift especially in regard of how architects deal on an everyday basis with CAD and morphological complexities. Big offices, thanks to their human and financial resources, have faced these difficulties and pushed the limits of their architectural projects. Little is known, however, about how smaller offices, accounting for the largest part of the European market, did adapt to these profound evolutions. Going through the results of a large-scale online survey, this paper analyzes the Belgian case regrouping mostly small and medium offices. The contribution discusses the meaning of parametric design for architects and reflects particularly on how architects do or do not implement these new digital tools in their everyday workflows. The results eventually shed light on the fact that parametric tools have the potential to free the creativity of SME’s and moreover unveil how these tools might overcome some of the current complexities of the daily architectural practice.

Immersive technologies are not only gaining popularity in various fields but are also heralded as the obvious next step in architectural practice. Now that almost five years have passed since the release of more accurate and affordable headsets, a review focusing on immersive technology applications in the architectural field is needed to reflect the current fields investigated. This systematic literature review discusses the sample used in the 201 selected studies about immersive technologies published from 2015 to 2019. The study identifies gaps in the current literature. The results highlight that professional architects are almost never queried in searches conducted over the past five years in the selected database. It unveils the necessity to take into consideration the context of studies in order to develop tools truly dedicated to the real practices of professional architects. This paper constitutes a reference for further researches by facilitating their contextualization within the research landscape.

No abstract

No abstract