“2 + 2 = 5” is one of the songs I love the most of the UK band Radiohead (watch them play it live in London here).
This “2 + 2 = 5” title, taken from George Orwell’s “1984,” symbolizes the forced acceptance of a self-evident falsehood imposed by a totalitarian power. It represents the denial of logic, the manipulation of truth, and intellectual submission to control.
But two plus two equals five is also a mathematical falsehood which is used as an example of a simple logical error that is obvious to anyone familiar with basic arithmetic.
The same happens when “BIM experts” are talking about parametric content, forcing you to think that parametric means digital.
Truth or Dare?
In mathematics, a parameter is nothing fancy. It’s just a variable, specifically one that defines or modifies the behavior of a system. It lives in the space between freedom and order, describing a range of possibilities within clear boundaries. Constraints before shapes. A parametric model isn’t a form: it’s a system that generates a form, reacting and recalibrating as its parameters shift.
When it comes to design commercial kitchens, we should stop just drawing things and start defining how things should relate: “this edge aligns with that axis,” “this volume scales with this footprint, unless this constraint kicks in.” It’s still Lego pieces, maybe, but with conditional logic, dynamic constraints, and rules that care. It’s the difference between making a model and making a model that makes itself.
Parametric is a Mindset, Not a Tool
Long before computers, architects used parametric thinking to generate forms based on constraints.In the late 19th century, Antoni Gaudí designed the Church of Colònia Güell using a hanging chain model (a catenary model). He hung strings with weights to determine the form of arches. If he changed the weight (a parameter), the shape changed automatically, making it an analog, physical, and highly complex parametric model.
Parametric design is about setting up a rule-based system or an algorithm – a set of instructions – that defines the geometry. Whether those rules are calculated by a computer or by hand, the logic is parametric.The focus is on relational modeling – how parts relate to one another – rather than creating a static 3D model.
Beyond the “Fancy Curves”: demystifying parametric
Parametric, and more in general BIM, is a data-driven process for managing facilities lifecycle information, extending far beyond 3D visualization and rendering.
It’s about integrating intelligent data into 3D models to improve project efficiency, facilitate collaboration among stakeholders, detect clashes early, and manage facilities from design through demolition.
I have three key suggestions for you to start changing your mindset:
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- Forget about nice pictures of your “beautiful” professional kitchens (breaking news: stainless steel will never be sexy!), so even the best rendering machine in the world can not make miracles
- Stop thinking that BIM equals Revit (yes, in the Foodservice Industry we are still living in the early 2000s…), because this is like “Jacuzzi is a commercial brand, hot tub is the generic term, i.e., all Jacuzzis are hot tubs, but not all hot tubs are Jacuzzis”
- If you want to go “parametric” or “digital twin”, you have to think that shapes are less important than algorithm processing, where only a software can execute a finite, ordered sequence of unambiguous instructions, or rules, designed to perform computations, data processing, or automated reasoning, transforming input data into a specific output by following logical steps like sorting or searching.
My final advice
If Albert Einstein used to say:
Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
you should never let anyone define what you are capable of by using parameters that don’t apply to you.
But at the same time, before you come to me for help, make sure you have tried THINKING… parametric THINKING!
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Stay data-hungry. Stay data-foolish.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Digital Consultant