The workshop is organized around the construction of a deployed, interactive interface capable of transforming between text prompts and pixel images.
Inspired by a past student project by Christina Christoforou and Renuka Deshpande in 2025, this workshop builds an interface that generates comic book layouts, turning a few text and image inputs into a visual narrative of a project. Archigram pioneered the use of comic layouts in the 1960s to propose radical urban futures such as Plug-In City and Walking City.
OMA used sequential narrative drawing to move a reader through the program and circulation in ways that plans and sections cannot. BIG extended this with "Yes is More" in 2009, using comic-style storyboards to make complex ideas legible, showing not just what a building looks like but also why it exists. This workshop builds on that history.
Working in ComfyUI, participants will build and modify node-based pipelines for text-to-image generation and image-to-image transformation that use architectural drawings, reference images, and depth maps as inputs. Its graph-based structure is similar to that of Grasshopper 3D, making the underlying logic of each workflow visible and modifiable, which suits both learning and iterative experimentation. The workshop will move across model types, examining the differences between base models, fine-tuned models, and LoRA adaptations trained on specific architectural styles or practices.
The final deliverable is a working interface that accepts one or more input types and returns meaningful generative output. A pipeline is not complete until someone else can use it and, in using it, reveal what the next iteration might become. As Don Norman observed, the moment you put something in front of users, you discover everything you got wrong.
The brief is open and not limited to comics and stories: any interface that takes architectural inputs and returns generative output is in scope. A material explorer, a facade variation tool, a site atmosphere generator, and a prompt library with live preview. The tool should be legible enough for someone else to use it without explanation.
The workshop progresses through three connected phases: first, participants build foundational skills in ComfyUI by experimenting with structured text-to-image and image-to-image workflows, focusing on how variables like models, samplers, guidance scale, and step count affect outputs. The second phase expands to more advanced workflows using ControlNet and LoRA, in which participants modify and intentionally deconstruct node-based systems to understand how different configurations affect results and their suitability for specific tasks.
In the final phase, participants will design and build their own browser-based interface using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python to make a chosen workflow accessible, resulting in a unique tool accompanied by documentation and a reflection on their design decisions.
Program:
Day 1: Foundations – Image Generation and Control
- Introduction to diffusion models and their role in generative design
- Set up and first experiments in ComfyUI with text-to-image workflows
- Image-to-image and ControlNet workflows using architectural references
- Exploration of models, LoRAs, and how parameters affect output quality and cost
- Structured comparisons and group review of generated results
Day 2: Extension – Interface Building and Deployment
- Introduction to browser-based generative interfaces and reference examples
- Selection of a Day 1 workflow to develop further
- Building interactive tools using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, and Gradio
- Packaging workflows into shareable, user-facing interfaces
- Final presentations and critique of completed interfaces
