Parametric Notations: The Birth of the Non-Standard

The use of scripted parameters that define objects in architecture is generally regarded as a recent phenomenon, associated with digital design. Mario Carpo, Reyner Banham Professor of Architectural Theory and History at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL), describes how parametric notations are part of an enduring architectural lineage that has its roots in the theses of classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, previous to printing, when the only means of disseminating the proportions and combining of elements was to describe them, writing them out by hand without the aid of illustration.