ARCT20170 Intro to Computational Design

Academic Year 2022/2023

This module introduces students to digital tools for creating and controlling form. The aim of the module is to give an understanding of the possibilities that digital design can bring, to develop a student’s ability to think and draw in three dimensions and to create complex forms and patterns, and to demonstrate how simple computer programming and parametric thinking can interact with design.

This module engages with two key digital tools. First, the students are introduced to a 3D drawing/modelling tool (Rhino), and learn how to draw three-dimensional geometries – from the simple to the complex. Following this, the students build on their modelling skills by experimenting with a parametric visual programming language (Grasshopper): to explore the creation of patterns, to control geometries, and to consider issues of detail and fabrication.

The demonstrations and projects are structured around studies of precedent buildings by architects and engineers who built complex form and pattern, from the designers of the Modernist period (Candela, Nervi, Dieste, etc) to current practitioners.

This module explores a territory of overlap between architecture and engineering: in terms of how the digital tools are used in practice, and in terms of the ideas of geometry and technology that underpin digital design. The module is open to students of both disciplines.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module a student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an ability to create 3D models from 2D geometries
2. Demonstrate an understanding of how to create and control complex geometries
3. Demonstrate a knowledge of a range of modelling tools and an understanding of how and when to apply them
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of parametric design and how to apply them to a project
5. Demonstrate an understanding of how to manage data to control the parametric hierarchy of a project
6. Demonstrate a knowledge of a range of parametric tools and an understanding of how and when to apply them

Indicative Module Content:

Key topics addressed include: 2D Drawing; 3D modelling; Geometry; Basic Parametric Techniques; Parametric Structure; Maths & Form; Surface Development & Fabrication; Visual Script Development.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24

Tutorial

24

Autonomous Student Learning

52

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Key teaching and learning approaches used in the module include:
* Short introductory lectures to provide a background in the history, principles and applications of digital design
* Demonstrations of how digital tools can be applied on a range of precedent case studies to introduce the tools and to develop the students’ familiarity and skill level
* Tutorials on individually-assigned precedent case-study projects to guide the students in their independent explorations of the tools

 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Preliminary work-in-progress submission for Project 2 (scripting files and 1-page summary document) Week 10 n/a Graded No

10

Portfolio: Portfolio 1 (Rhino): Work on Project 1 assembled into a portfolio document plus digital submission of project Rhino files Week 8 n/a Graded No

40

Portfolio: Portfolio 2 (Grasshopper): Work on Project 2 assembled into a portfolio document plus digital submission of project Grasshopper/Rhino files Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

50


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
In-Module Resit Prior to relevant Programme Exam Board
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback Strategy/Strategies 1. Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment 2. Self-assessment activities How will my Feedback be Delivered? 1. Continuous feedback individually to students in-class on skill development and on the progression of their development through the assigned projects, prior to end of term portfolio submission and formal assessment. 2. Some amount of informal self-assessment, to facilitate students to self-monitor and critically evaluate their own work, through in-class discussions around demonstrations and review of other students’ work when presented in class.

ONLINE
Grasshoppper Primer 2018 – mode lab
http://grasshopperprimer.com/en/index.html?index.html

BOOKS
Wassim Jabi. (2013). Parametric design for architecture. Laurence King Publishing.
ISBN-10: 1780673140

Robert Woodbury. (2010). Elements of Parametric Design. Routledge.
ISBN-10: 0415779871

Abdullah Hardi. (2014). Parametric design procedures. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
ISBN-10: 3659635286

Herzog and Demeuron. (2013). Natural History. Lars Müller Publishers.
ISBN-10: 3037780495

JOURNALS

DETAIL
Digital Details- 01.12.2007.
Digital Façade - 01.12.2007.
Analogue and Digital- 04.01.2010
Material Aesthetics- 02.01.2019
Structure 11.03.2019

EL CROQUIS
El Croquis. No.139. Sanna – Architectural Topography. (April 1, 2008).
ISBN-10: 8488386486
El Croquis. No. 138. RCR Architects – The attributes of Nature (Editorial). (2007).
ISBN: 9788488386472 8488386478
El Croquis. No. 162. RCR Arquitectes 2007-2012 Poetic Abstraction (English and Spanish Edition). (January 9, 2012)
ISBN-10: 8488386729
El Croquis No. 152-153. Herzog and Demeuron. (January 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 8488386621
Name Role
Mr Joe Swan Lecturer / Co-Lecturer