Body Architecture 4.0

This workshop explores the integration of computational design and AI to create innovative, body-centric designs.

Seats:
50
Format:
Online On Zoom
Date:
Sep 27, 28, 2025
Duration:
8 Hours
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Language:
English
Certificate:
Yes
Registration:
€85.00
Members:
72.25 EUR (27.75%) discount
Recordings:
Available Indefinitely
€100.00
€85.00
Last 5 seats at this price!
Body Architecture studio expands the domain of architecture beyond its conventional boundaries to encompass the scale of the human body and the design of wearable products.
The workshop will provide participants with both technical and methodological foundations to apply computational design for projects in the fashion, sportswear, and medical industries. Building on the success of the first three editions, the enhanced 4.0 format introduces advanced design workflows that merge computational design with artificial intelligence. Participants will engage with a cross-platform toolkit that includes Rhino and Grasshopper, SideFX Houdini, MakeHuman, Midjourney AI, and RunwayML.
By combining the generative power of node-based software like Grasshopper and Houdini, Participants will explore how digital tools can simulate natural forms, patterns, and microstructures, investigating how the natural and the artificial, the digital and the material can be hybridised into contemporary design statements.
Artificial Intelligence will augment the early concept development phase, support the creation of assets for computational workflows, and enhance the visualisation and animation of final proposals. Proposing an experimental and speculative approach, Body Architecture 4.0 aims to foster a design culture rooted in innovation.

Participants will explore emerging transformations of natural and artificial environments, envisioning how the human body and its extensions might evolve in response, and produce design proposals ranging from wearable artifacts to conceptual proposals for radical reimagining of the human form.
Overview of approaches to creating digital 3D models of the human body.
Step-by-step workflow using MakeHuman for generating anatomically accurate human base meshes.
Introduction to parametric modelling in Rhino + Grasshopper for generative design.
Advanced procedural modelling in SideFX Houdini, with a focus on organic forms and complex structures.
Integration of design data across platforms to support hybrid workflows.
Using Midjourney AI to explore speculative design ideas and generate visual concepts.
Creating and refining visual and geometric assets with AI tools to feed into computational design pipelines.
Developing high-quality visualisations of wearable designs and digital artifacts: general principles.
Producing stylised or cinematic animations using Runway ML for presentation and storytelling.
Applying computational and AI techniques in contexts such as fashion, sportswear, and medical design.
Embracing speculative and experimental design approaches that challenge conventional design boundaries.

Program: 

Day 1

  • Introductory Lecture
    Overview of the Body Architecture studio, conceptual framework, and objectives of the workshop. Presentation of selected case studies from the portfolio of Filippo Nassetti Studio.

  • AI Tools for Body Architecture: Concept Design with Midjourney AI – Principles and Techniques
    Introduction to AI-driven image generation with Midjourney: prompt design, iterative exploration, and stylistic direction.

  • AI Tools for Body Architecture: Case Studies and Applications
    Brief overview of exemplary projects and workflows using Midjourney AI for speculative design.

  • AI Tools for Body Architecture: Asset Creation for Computational Workflows
    Generating visual and geometric inputs using AI for use within 3D modelling environments.

  • Digital Modelling of the Human Body: MakeHuman and Alternative Approaches
    Workflow demonstration using MakeHuman to create anatomically accurate base models, with reference to alternative methodologies.

  • Computational Design Techniques in Rhino + Grasshopper: Mapping Strategies I
    Introduction to geometry mapping and surface manipulation techniques in Grasshopper.

  • Q&A

Day 2

  • Computational Design Techniques in Rhino + Grasshopper: Mapping Strategies II
    Advanced surface population methods, parametric control, and integration with body geometry.

  • Computational Design Techniques in SideFX Houdini: Noise-Based Displacement
    Procedural generation of form through noise functions and displacement mapping.

  • Computational Design Techniques in SideFX Houdini: Erosion Simulation
    Simulating natural processes to shape digital geometry; layering erosion effects for design intent.

  • AI Tools for Body Architecture: Animation with Runway ML
    Creating motion-based presentations and stylised animations of design outcomes using AI tools.

  • Q&A

Instructors:

Biography
Filippo Nassetti is an artist and computational designer. The research agenda he advances, Postnatural Design, focuses on exploring the visual languages and project opportunities that emerge from challenging traditional oppositions such as natural and artificial, digital and material, human and non-human. Working between scales and crossing disciplines such as architecture, product, and landscape design relates to research on organic form, computational methods, new media, and advanced manufacturing technologies. Soon after graduating in Architecture, Filippo started operating independently, and throughout the years, the practice engaged with a broad portfolio of projects that included commissions, grants, research activities, and consultancy. In 2012, he co-founded MHOX, an EU-funded research practice and start-up focused on the design of radical artifacts and wearable products through computational techniques and 3d printing. The contribution of MHOX to generative design gained international recognition through many experimental projects, such as Collagen, Carapace and Superabundance Masks, Generative Orthoses, ENEA walking sticks, and the design of prostheses. In 2015, Filippo joined Zaha Hadid Architects, initially as part of the Computation and Design team (ZH CODE), then of Zaha Hadid Design (ZHD), where he was responsible for computational design.In the eight years he was part of the practice, he led and completed several ZHD projects where computation played a central role. These experiences ranged from the design of both sculptural and functional products to experimental installations, projection mappings, and interior designs. Since 2016, he has taught at UCL at the Bartlett School of Architecture as part of the MArch Urban Design, a postgraduate program focused on computational design, co-leading the Research Cluster 16 through a research-based teaching methodology. Filippo’s independent work has been published and exhibited internationally. He lectured at The Royal College of Arts (London), China Central Academy of Fine Arts (Beijing), and Florida International University (Miami), among others; exhibited at Centre Pompidou (Paris), Design Museum (London), Bozar Centre (Bruxelles); his work was featured on The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Dezeen, Designboom, Wired Italia.
No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

You must be logged in to comment.