PARAM-O is a new free-form design tool from Graphisoft that allows architects and designers to take a simple shape and, without recourse to writing software, GDL coding or formulating scripts, create an infinite number of unique parametric components to build custom objects and other components, or to explore design options.

The software was released by Graphisoft in March for both Windows and macOS, although it was actually shown as a technology preview in July last year for Archicad 24. Both platform versions are now ready to be downloaded and installed as a built-in tool for the application with an easy-to-use interface for creating architectural features and building components.

PARAM-O allows users to produce endless variations of a basic 3D object by physically manipulating or modifying its parameters. It can be used by architectural students to experiment with the creation of unique shapes and forms, or by architectural practices who want to develop custom, reusable and manufacturer-specific object libraries conforming to their own office designs and documentation standards.

WHAT IS PARAM-O?
PARAM-O, once downloaded, becomes a built-in part of Archicad 24. It's a node-based tool, the nodes being the building blocks that help define the object, such as shapes, attributes, transformations, mathematical and trigonometric operations, Boolean operations and much more.

The nodes are connected to each other in a logical sequence and contain variable information that defines the shape of the object, or the functions that are used to build it. Although graphically connected, nodes can be moved around and modified, and you can see the results of your work in real-time 3D previews.

Graphisoft has included many predefined nodes within PARAM-O, but if users can't find a node that matches their specific requirements, creating a custom node is easy enough to do.

To create an object, users select a sample version of it from the node library - basically the simplest form of the object you want to end up with, like a block, sphere, cylinder, wedge and so on - and double-click and drag it from the editor onto the canvas, together with its 3D preview, which is where you will build up the series of nodes that will define it.

You can change the geometry of the object by pushing or pulling on its parameters, or you can modify its variable data in one of the connected nodes. Any number of parameters can be added to the object - the more the better, to make it more flexible.

To make an object react to more than just manual manipulation, you need to create and connect an input node to it. For example a Length node, connected to the size X parameter input of the Block node would allow the length of the object to be set according to values in an earlier connected node. To automatically update parameter values, the setting dialogue needs to be opened and the create parameter feature set to 'true'. Give the node a name, and it will appear in the Object Settings Dialog allowing its value to be modified.

Objects can be saved in the Archicad Part Library as native objects, allowing further modifications to be made using Archicad's Object Tool. To save time there are some special parameters in Archicad - Dimension 1, Dimension 2 and Height etc. - whose values can be set in the Preview and Positioning page of the Object Settings Dialog, and which allow the scaled size of objects within a well-designed scene to be maintained and synchronised with each other.

As an example of object design, a basic table can be downloaded with just three parameters: x,y and z. The parameters can be modified using either the objects settings in the dialogue box or the objects hotspots in 2D or 3D, changing its shape in real-time using its parametric capabilities. At the same time, the 3D representation of the model will display the result of each modification.

PARAM-O EDITOR
All of the above is accomplished within a simple environment, the PARAM-O Editor, which includes a Node Tree, an Editor Canvas and the Model Preview. The Node Tree is a browser where you can find all of the available nodes which can be dragged and dropped onto the editor canvas, or you can double-click on it to create a new node.

The Editor Canvas is the main part of the editor and provides free space for laying out object nodes and their connections. To the right of the editor is the Object Preview. It's a 3D preview but doesn't include textures or edge rendering and has limited transparency handling compared to Archicad's standard capabilities. Grid visibility and other settings can be modified from the preview's context menu.

PARAM-O SAMPLE OBJECTS
Some sample objects created using PARAM-O have been posted on the Graphisoft website, and you can download them to try out various PARAM-O functions, including the variations outlined below which illustrate the range of free-form effects that can be achieved with the software.

Stairs: The stair node is an easy one to start with, as it has as its parameters the stair width, treads and risers. You can start with this simple object to create and set parameters by changing the node setting to 'true' as outlined above and then experimenting with different types of stairs, changing the different dimensions in the object's settings dialogue.

Shading: PARAM-O allows users to do more than just play around with an object's geometry. It can be used to change its material or surface textures, or it's location within a 3D visualisation which has been set up to respond to its geopolitical location, the position of the sun and seasonal variations. The shading object parameters can use the Global Value node to synchronise the response of an object with the sun's movement and the resultant shade.

Wave façade: Trigonometric calculations are used to create parametric waves which dictate the thickness of each plate, the distance between them, and the surface colour. They can be further edited in 2D and 3D using the object's hotspots, or numerically in the object's settings dialog.

Window Panel: The Random Series node can be used to create random holes in a window panel. As each of the holes would be different, they can be edited as a whole after defining them as subtypes of the object, using the GDL editor’s Window Tool.

Objects created using PARAM-O will work in every Archicad version whether PARAM-O is installed or not. Some Archicad users have already been using PARAM-O with positive results. "The nodes make it so easy to work in PARAM-O," said Peter Koncz, BIM Manager at Leroy Street Studio in New York. "Because we carefully design every project down to the smallest detail, we need to build a lot of custom components. Creating reusable parametric objects without writing code has made this process so quick and easy for us."

www.graphisoft.com/uk