Courses Architectural Design Grasshopper Essential Plugins for Beginners 101

Grasshopper Essential Plugins for Beginners 101

This course introduces beginners to using Lunchbox, Parakeet, Kangaroo, Weaverbird, and Mesh+ for paneling, patterning, simulation, and mesh editing.

Overview
Content
Instructors
Reviews

Date:

May 7, 2025

Duration:

4 Hours

Difficulty:

Beginner

Language:

English

Certificate:

Registration:

€30.00

Tutor:

Members:

25.50 EUR (57.50%) discount

Recordings:

Available Indefinitely

Gift Course

Introduction of the workshop:

Grasshopper plugins are powerful extensions that enhance the capabilities of Rhino’s parametric design environment. These plugins offer specialized tools for tasks like geometry manipulation, surface paneling, pattern generation, physics simulation, and mesh editing. By integrating plugins into Grasshopper, designers can automate complex processes, create data-driven models, and push the boundaries of parametric design, making them essential for architectural, engineering, and fabrication workflows.

This beginner-friendly course series offers a hands-on introduction to parametric modeling using four essential Grasshopper plugins: Lunchbox, Parakeet, Kangaroo, Weaverbird, and Mesh+. Each session focuses on a core area of computational design: surface paneling, generative patterning, physics simulation, and mesh manipulation. The series culminates in a final workflow that integrates all tools into one powerful script.

Whether you're new to Grasshopper or seeking to expand your plugin toolkit, this series builds a solid foundation for data-driven design strategies, offering practical, adaptable workflows ready to integrate into architectural, fabrication, and digital modeling projects.

What You’ll Learn?

Create panels on surfaces (Lunchbox)

Develop Trusses using surface points

Set up surfaces in Parakeet

Create unique patterns with various shapes

Create a catenary surface

Develop a soap-film simulation

Manipulate Meshes with Weaverbird

Smooth Forms with Subdivisions

Grasshopper Essential Plugins for Beginners 101

Methodology:

This Course Includes:

Lunchbox

Lunchbox can be used to break down large surfaces into unique units of form, generating manipulations or operations. In this course, we will use Lunchbox to create a brick wall from a surface, then manipulate it using an attractor point function. Then, we will explore the more unique truss structures Lunchbox can provide, and use panelization throughout a script to generate walls, windows, and mullions.

Parakeet

Parakeet enables designers to create unique patterns on surfaces. From generating simple patterns to more complex networks, we will experiment with the setup Parakeet requires to create a pattern. We will also explore some tools built into the plugin that can be used outside of pattern generation to manipulate curves, making advanced techniques easier, such as 3D print file generation. We will progress from the basics to advanced manipulations, and include some bonus tools you shouldn’t miss.

Kangaroo

Architects have utilized physics to generate form for centuries, from Gaudí’s catenary curves to Frei Otto’s experimentation with soap film minimal surfaces. Kangaroo allows Grasshopper to simulate many physical properties and generate meshes that can be manipulated within your form-making process. We will start with a simple catenary surface, then generate a minimal surface mesh using a soap film, and finally create a thallus pattern using curves on a manipulated surface.

Weaverbird & Mesh+

Weaverbird and Mesh+ are not designed to create forms on their own; however, when used in conjunction with other plugins, they become extremely powerful. We will start by exploring the utility these programs offer in smoothing meshes or adding unique manipulations to mesh surfaces. Then, we will utilize all the plugins used previously in this series —Lunchbox, Parakeet, and Kangaroo—to generate a single workflow where Weaverbird and Mesh+ integrate within the script, enhancing the capabilities of each individual program.

Bonus Session: Integrated Workflow

In the final session, all four plugins combine in a single parametric design workflow. Participants will apply surface paneling, pattern generation, force-based transformations, and mesh refinement in one comprehensive script, demonstrating the strength of combining these tools to produce complex, intelligent geometries.

What You’ll Use?

Highlights:

Content

Parametric Brick Wall Design (21:36)

Intro to Lunchbox Panelization

This introductory session on Lunchbox focuses on creating a curved, panelized brick wall using parametric patterns, attractor points, and surface-based extrusion techniques.

Structural Panel Truss System (27:18)

Advanced Lunchbox Panelization & Trusses

This session explores advanced panelization techniques in Lunchbox by combining structural trusses, panel frames, and curved geometries to create a customizable architectural system.

Pattern Generation with Parakeet (22:47)

Tile Patterns for Surface Mapping

This session introduces Parakeet, showcasing how to generate tileable geometric patterns and map them onto 2D and 3D surfaces for CNC fabrication, facade design & parametric texturing.

Parakeet for Designers (30:11)

Advanced Parakeet Pattern Strategies

This session dives into advanced Parakeet techniques for generating organic patterns, extrusions, and surface mappings in Grasshopper.

Kangaroo Catenary Surface Tutorial (24:04)

Form-Finding with Kangaroo Meshes

This session introduces Kangaroo for form-finding in Grasshopper, guiding users through mesh-based simulation techniques to generate catenary structures using anchor points, loads, and contour-based paneling.

Minimal Surface Simulation Workflow (18:10)

Crafting Minimal Surfaces with Kangaroo

This session demonstrates how to generate a mesh-based minimal surface using Grasshopper by lofting between curves and simulating soap film behavior with anchor constraints and edge-length controls.

Simulating Patterns on Surfaces (25:56)

Dynamic Patterns on Curved Surfaces

This session explores the simulation of dynamic pattern formation using Kangaroo physics and maps the results onto curved surfaces for 3D printing applications.

Mesh Tools in Grasshopper (22:37)

Exploring Mesh+ and Weaverbird Techniques

This session introduces the combined use of Weaverbird and Mesh+ in Grasshopper for mesh smoothing, thickening, texturing, and creative face-by-face manipulation in architectural workflows.

Grasshopper Plugins combined Workflow (21:01)

Advanced Grasshopper Mesh Workflow

This final session demonstrates a complete workflow that integrates Lunchbox, Kangaroo, Parakeet, Mesh+, and Weaverbird to create complex parametric panelizations, simulations, and 3D printable mesh textures.

Screenshots:

Instructors:

Jacob Lehrer

Biography

Jacob Lehrer is exploring the future of sustainable architecture, utilizing emerging computational techniques and advanced manufacturing technologies. He began his academic career at Wentworth Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Science in Architecture with a concentration in Emerging Technologies. Using Rhino and Grasshopper, he developed systems to create facades, pavilions, and sculptures utilizing Kuka Robotics systems and Wasp robotic clay printing. With a commitment to sustainable design, Lehrer holds three LEED AP accreditations (BD+C, O+M, ND) and believes computation is key to tailoring projects to their specific locations, facilitating a more sustainable development process. His work blends aesthetics and environmental responsibility with a core focus on the natural world. Building on this unique experience, Jacob will attend SCI_Arc starting in August 2025. His distinctive experience with advanced Grasshopper applications informs his approach to teaching the fundamentals of this software. Jacob previously taught the 'Environment-Reactive Computation (with Ladybug)' workshop at PAACADEMY.