DES 212 · 2025W2 · UBC SALA

Design Media II

Parametric Design with Rhino & Grasshopper

A permanent archive of the course: lectures, hands-on Grasshopper tutorials, assignment briefs, and a library of parametric architecture precedents. The course moves through three modules — from the logic of form, to the intelligence of matter and fabrication, to advanced form-finding.

Instructor: Xun Liu

⬇ Download all course files (ZIP) View source on GitHub ↗

Start here

All Tutorials →Every hands-on Grasshopper tutorial, in one place

Course Overview

SyllabusCourse outline & policies Schedule Miro Board LinksCollaboration boards

Modules

Module I

The Logic of Form

Lectures

Lecture 1.1: Design with Parameters Lecture 1.2: Rule-based Design Lecture 1.3: Emergent Design

Tutorials

Tutorial 1.1: Hello, Grasshopper Tutorial 1.2: Grasshopper Attractors Tutorial 1.3: Grasshopper Vector/Planes/Transform

Assignment

Assignment/Pin-up 1

Module II

The Intelligence of Matter

Lectures

Lecture 2.1: AI-Assisted Design Lecture 2.2: Digital Fabrication Lecture 2.3: Robotic Intelligence

Tutorials

Tutorial 2.1: AI for Visualization Tutorial 2.2: 3D Print Tutorial 2.3: Robotic Fabrication

Assignment

Assignment/Pin-up 2

Module III

Advanced Form-Finding

Lectures

Lecture 3.1: Data-Driven Design Lecture 3.2: Performance-Driven Design Lecture 3.3: Evolutionary Design

Tutorials

Tutorial 3.1: Spatial Data Injection Tutorial 3.2: Environmental Simulation Tutorial 3.3: Evolutionary Solvers

Assignment

Assignment/Pin-up 3

Resources

Resource Library — A119 precedent case studies · files being reorganized (coming soon)