Catherine Slessor's critique of parametricism as a technophile triumph

Catherine Slessor, architecture critic for The Guardian and former editor of The Architectural Review, published a scathing opinion piece on Dezeen as part of their series on parametricism. She argues that parametricism is a technophile triumph of fetishised process over outcome, disconnected from human needs. Slessor criticizes the style's reliance on algorithmic processes and its appeal to capitalist sponsors in the Gulf, China, and Russia. She highlights the role of Patrik Schumacher, principal of Zaha Hadid Architects, who popularized the term and wrote the two-volume "Autopoiesis of Architecture." Slessor notes that parametricism emerged in 2016, the year Zaha Hadid died, Architectural Design published a seminal issue on the style, and Schumacher delivered a controversial keynote at the World Architecture Festival in Berlin. She compares parametricism to deconstructivism, suggesting it may atrophy. The piece includes a ChatGPT-generated description of parametricism, which Slessor dismisses as garbage in, garbage out.