Parametric Design with Blender

In collaboration with Parametric Architecture Academy, this will be an online weekend workshop on 25-26 February 2023.

Parametric Design with Blender:

In a field overflowing with various different applications used for architectural concept design, Blender significantly stands out as a program that is; highly capable of extensive modelling tools including subdivision, widely accessible as it’s free and open source, inherently parametric, highly expandable as it has excellent addons like Tissue for tessellation and many others, and it’s equally excellent for presentation with Cycles rendering engine and Eevee.

The Scope of the Studio:

Blender has excellent capabilities for architectural design and we will focus on how fast and easy it is to investigate design concepts with the program. We will look at what makes Blender unique among 3d apps and how this uniqueness makes it perhaps the best tool for architectural and computational design available today.

Methodology:

The workshop will focus on specific workflows for architectural design modeling that encompass the topics of; Polygonal modeling, Subdivision modeling, Non-destructive techniques with modifiers, Tessellations with the Tissue addon, and Representation. In order to achieve this, we will use a number of exercises to build up your Blender skillset, starting from simple pavilion and concluding with an office building.

Program:

Session 1: February 25th:
40min – Introduction
20min – Overview of Blender and important setup notes
1.5hr – Exercise 1 – Pavilions
1.5hr – Exercise 2 – Tower massing

Session 2: February 26th:
1hr – Reviewing assignment 1
1hr – Exercise 3 – Further details to tower massing
1hr – Presentation
30min – How to incorporate Blender in architectural workflow
30min – Q & A and closing remarks