In recent decades, there has been a demographic shift towards an aging society. Furthermore, socio-structural changes have promoted the individualization of biographies and lifestyles. The containers we live in do not correspond to the way we live anymore. Along with a deregulation of the housing markets (especially in Western Europe) these tendencies have prepared the ground for a trend in living towards models of variance.

These models raise a series of questions:
What is the range of qualities of differentiation that we can produce within the boundaries of repetition and uniqueness? Where are the tipping points, where sameness becomes variation becomes differentiation? How do differences in intensive (environmental) qualities lead to extensive quantifiable diversity in the physical form? How can we mediate between life-styles that are different in nature and lifestyles that evolve and become different over time?
What is the nature of the individual (living) condition, and how does it position itself in relation to other (living) conditions and the whole aggregation of diverse (living) conditions?
The notion that uniqueness is now as economic and easy to achieve as repetition challenges the assumptions posed by modernism and presents the potential for a new post-industrial paradigm.

We will have to distinguish between different modes of variance that go beyond the one-size-fits-all philosophy and that will challenge current living environments. However, individualization has also led to fragmentation in our built environment. Parametric thinking helped us to find ways to maximize differentiation without losing the overall coherence.

PARAMETRIC DESIGN
Parametric component systems carry the capacity to mediate between fixed constraints and varying degrees of freedom. It is based on a hierarchy of variable-controlled relationships.
Each variable, in constant response to the relevant constraints, causes the overall system to change and thereby generates variation without losing the overall coherence and integrity of the system. This allows for the project to continuously evolve by adapting to the cultural, economic, political and aesthetic forces at play. The constant coordination and evaluation of information becomes an integral part of the design. Parametric design strategies are neither a mere form-finding nor a mere output tool that allows for complex shapes to be translated into fabrication. They are far more than that - they bridge the gap between the analytical and the generative. Furthermore, parametric design bears multiple representations in that it entails the quality of simultaneous creation and operation on different, complementary, linked representations that remain associative to the conceptual framework. Parametric models are provisional and relational, performative and not representational, open to information, dynamic and projective and they integrate process and form. The design focus is being shifted from defining the form of the whole to setting up relationships between the parts. Parametric design exploits the shared topology of objects and fosters the understanding of building components and systems and their relationships in regard to geometric, performative, and programmatic issues.
We used parametric strategies to explore prototypical aggregations and assemblages of living. These were then subsequently tested against a given site condition.
SITE: Vienna Waterfront
In the second phase we tested the prototypes in terms of their operability and success in a given site environment on the waterfront in Vienna. According to the City Planning Department’s Stadtentwicklungsplan 2005, the area between the Danube Canal and the new and old Danube is currently seen as one of the urbanistically most dynamic parts of Vienna’s inner city and as one of the focal points for future development strategies. The waterfront is characterized by its intersections with important urban axes, especially the Wagramer Straße/U1 axis.
Currently, the waterfront is separated from the city by train tracks and a 6-lane road. A complete cover as an urban strategy to reinstate coherence, as it was undertaken on the opposite Danube shore (Donau City), is not desireable, both economically and urbanistically. The Donau Dampfschiffahrt Gesellschaft (DDSG) as one of the main actors on the waterfront site with its 200.000 passengers annually in short-, long-distance and tourist boat traffic, intends to expand its docking facilities to Brigittenauer Brücke to the north and the Hilton Hotel to the south. The expanded docks will be served by additional infrastructure: a bus shuttle from the current terminal at Reichsbrücke.
These infrastructures and their exposed and prominent location ask for a strong programmatic backbone with an aim that is threefold - firstly, to ensure a 24/7 population of the long stretch of urban public space, secondly to present a programmatic offer to the incoming visitors from the water, and lastly to reconnect the waterfront back to the city and establish a direct relationship and accessibility between the city and the water and its qualities in terms of leisure, regeneration and living.