Computational Design I: Theory and Applications
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this course treating design as a computational process governed by explicit rules. Students learn shapes, shape arithmetic, symmetry, spatial relations, and shape computations, building toward shape grammars as tools for generating and describing architectural designs. Hands-on, in-class exercises have students construct and apply abstract shape grammars themselves, working through the mechanics of grammar-based design generation. The course also addresses practical issues in applying shape grammars to real design problems, connecting the formal, rule-based system to actual creative practice in architecture and design fields. Materials come from MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative and include the course's lecture content and exercises, free to access, with no certificate offered. It suits students interested in generative design methods, computational approaches to creativity, or the formal underpinnings of architectural composition.