Yokohama International Port Terminal: An early landmark of parametric architecture

Summary

This article examines the Yokohama International Port Terminal, designed by Foreign Office Architects (FOA) and opened in 2002, as a landmark early example of parametric architecture. Part of a parametricism series, the piece explores how the terminal's computational design approach — using algorithmic processes to generate form — made it one of the first high-profile parametric buildings. The design features a continuous folded surface that blurs the boundary between building and landscape, with circulation paths that weave through the structure in a non-hierarchical manner.