Do I need experience in both AI tools and computational design to join this workshop?

Prior experience is helpful but not required. The workshop is structured to introduce each platform (like Midjourney, Grasshopper, Houdini, and RunwayML)

What kind of projects will I work on during the course?

You’ll explore speculative and wearable design concepts, ranging from AI-generated body-centric visuals to parametric structures and animations.

Can I follow the workshop if I don’t have a 3D scan of a human body?

Yes. While using a body scan (via MakeHuman or alternatives) is part of the workflow, sample models and alternative methods will be demonstrated. You’re not required to bring your own scan

How does AI integrate with the design process in this course?

AI is used at multiple stages: to inspire and generate concept images (Midjourney), assist in geometry creation and asset generation, and enhance presentations through stylized animations (RunwayML).

Is this workshop more artistic or technical in nature?

It’s a blend of both. You’ll engage with rigorous computational workflows while also exploring speculative, artistic directions in design.

Courses Architectural Design Body Architecture 4.0

Body Architecture 4.0

Name: Body Architecture 4.0
Price: 85.00 EUR
Rating: 5 (2 reviews)

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

00:00

Member-Only

Overview
Content
Instructors
Reviews

Nov 29, 30, 2025

10 Lessons

Intermediate

8 Hours

Certificate — Learn

English

Unlimited Access

Only Members 🧑🏻‍💻

Gift Course

Introduction of the workshop:

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.

Access this course for free with your Membership!

What You’ll Learn?

Generate accurate 3D human base meshes using MakeHuman.

Build complex organic geometries through procedural modelling in SideFX Houdini.

Connect and exchange design data seamlessly across multiple platforms.

Use MidJourney AI to develop and iterate on speculative design concepts.

Create high-quality visualizations and cinematic presentations with Runway ML.

Apply computational and AI-driven methods to innovate in fashion, sportswear, and medical design.

Methodology:

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

What You’ll Use?

Highlights:

Content

Introduction + PAACADEMY Updates (07:39)

Exploring Body Architecture (35:56)

Foundations of Body Architecture Design

This session introduces the conceptual foundations of Body Architecture, tracing how biomimicry, computational design, 3D printing, and hybrid natural–artificial thinking converge across case studies that span masks, erosion-driven forms, and digitally evolved structures.

Biology Meets Computational Design (34:09)

Designing Across Biology & Technology

This session traces the evolution of Body Architecture from scientific collaboration to product and fashion applications, showing how computational design, biological simulation, 3D printing, and AI converge into a unified creative methodology

Midjourney for Designers (47:14)

Midjourney Prompting Workflow

This session introduces Midjourney, explains diffusion-based image generation, and demonstrates how prompting, creative direction, and version control shape concept-driven workflows in body-architecture design.

Expanding Images with AI (45:24)

AI Parameters, Animation & Exploration

This session dives deep into Midjourney’s parameter system, documentation, and evolving features while demonstrating how AI tools like Runway and Gemini can animate images, generate variations, and expand concepts into video and multi-view design workflows.

Exploring AI to 3D (47:51)

AI Views to Digital Modeling

This session shows how to extend AI-generated concepts into full visual documentation, explores the limits of multi-view generation with tools like Midjourney and Gemini, and transitions into building accurate body-referenced digital models using MakeHuman for Rhino and Houdini workflows.

Erosion as Design Logic (58:08)

From erosion studies to modeling

This session shifts from AI-driven ideation to computational modeling, showing how erosion studies, visual research, noise functions, and Houdini’s height-field engine can turn abstract concepts into structured digital terrains that evolve into buildable design geometries.

Terrain to Heightmap Loop (52:16)

Erosion, Export, Mesh, Image, Reuse

This session deepens the erosion workflow by converting height-field terrains into exportable meshes, importing them into Rhino for visualization, exploring height-field tools like crop, blur, and terraces, and finally transforming 3D terrains back into black-and-white heightmaps via Grasshopper to reuse as design assets.

Image-Driven Terrain Modeling (45:35)

Pixelation Workflow from Images to 3D

This session builds a Grasshopper workflow that converts height-field images into pixelated 3D terrains, maps erosion data onto parametric grids, reconstructs meshes, and generates fully controllable extruded box systems that translate image-based logic into complex architectural patterning.

Image-Mapped Voxel Geometry (49:59)

Erosion-Driven Parametric Head Workflow

This session walks through the full erosion-based voxelization workflow, transforming a simple MakeHuman head mesh into a high-resolution, image-driven 3D grid of extruded boxes using ray intersections, map sampling, selective filtering, and fabrication-ready parametric control in Grasshopper.

Screenshots:

Instructors:

Filippo Nassetti

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.

Showcase

840 views

2 reviews.

Md Tareq Abdullah 2025-12-01 01:26

This workshop — Body Architecture 4.0 by Filippo Nassetti — mixes computational design and AI to build cool, body‑centric, wearable or human‑scale designs. It let me play with tools like Rhino + Grasshopper, SideFX Houdini, MakeHuman, plus AI‑powered idea generation and visualization with Midjourney and RunwayML. The process from AI sketch to parametric body‑based geometry felt fresh and experimental, and I enjoyed exploring organic shapes and speculative design ideas. It’s kinda intense for beginners and assumes you know the basics already — but if you’re into digital design + fashion or wearable‑tech, it’s a super inspiring crash‑course.