I have zero programming experience. Is this workshop too technical for me?

Not at all. That is exactly what "Vibe Coding" is about! It is the practice of using plain, conversational language to communicate your needs to an AI, which then writes the machine code for you.

How does integrating 'real-time data' actually benefit my architectural or design projects?

This workshop teaches you how to use APIs to connect your tools to live, real-time data. This allows your design logic to continuously respond to exact environmental or usage conditions, making your projects dynamically specific

How do these custom AI scripts connect back to physical fabrication and Grasshopper?

The workshop bridges the gap between digital data and physical objects. You will learn how to bring your AI-generated Python code directly into Grasshopper. Specifically, we will use structured data (like JSON exports and custom Computer Vision algorithms) to generate and control intricate, adaptive patterns ready for 3D printing.

Will I just be copying and pasting code, or will I learn how to build an actual connected system?

You will learn to build fully connected ecosystems. The curriculum goes beyond basic prompting to teach data structuring and export logic. You will learn "hidden tricks"—such as using hidden comments to make one AI talk smoothly to another—ensuring your web pages, Python scripts, and Grasshopper definitions communicate seamlessly.

Why does the curriculum use multiple AI platforms like Gemini and Claude instead of just one?

Different AI models excel at different tasks. By exploring a dynamic "Gemini to Claude" workflow, you will learn how to evaluate and select the optimal tool for your specific problem.

May 16 & 17, 202612 lessonsBeginner

FREE with Full Access Workshop Beginner 12 lessons 5.0 Rating

Vibe Coding for Designers: Adaptive Toolmaking

This workshop explores how designers can use AI, Python, and Grasshopper to build adaptive tools to control geometry across digital and physical workflows.

This course includes

Live workshop · 6h 57m
Lifetime session recordings
Certificate of completion
Downloadable course files
6 design tools
Private Discord community
Included with Full Access
Instructor Q&A

Every language has the same purpose: communication between two entities. With the proliferation of AI tools, it has suddenly become much easier to communicate your needs to a computer in plain language, rather than machine code. In this workshop, we will discuss how to use AI tools to create custom applications, web pages, and one-off Grasshopper tools.

We will start with how to describe a piece of software you want to use with an AI coding tool, how to start integrating real data, and how to export that data for use elsewhere. Then, we will go over how to make a piece of software ready for combining with another using hidden tricks for smooth communication.

Then we will start with Python and how to use it in Grasshopper to experiment with 3D-printed textures. Then, we will tie it all together by building a custom computer vision algorithm that produces data ready for Grasshopper to use.

Understand the basics of coding
How to install and use Python
How to prepare data to move between software
How to describe a software goal to AI effectively
How to edit and review AI-Generated code
How to structure code for integration using AI

This workshop will navigate the dynamic world of AI coding to learn the most resilient coding workflows for different types of problems. The goal is an understanding of how to figure out what problems you want to solve and the optimal tools to help you solve them.

We will use real-time data where available to help inform design decisions, where, instead of pulling a static set of statistics once, you can continuously review the exact conditions of a place. This new push into real-time allows architects to focus on the ongoing condition of their building post-delivery while still designing for a day-one occupancy.

With that foundation in accessing real-time data, we will move into the ways that you can construct unique data and output combinations to fit your own needs. This will include methodologies for Computer Vision, and how to creatively interpret this data into a pattern generator for a 3D printed object in Grasshopper.

The goal is to reflect on the open-endedness of the possible combinations of data source and data interpretation. By doing this, we can create projects that are even more dynamically specific to their location and to the data that is generated and constructed within them.

Program:

Day 1:

Information: Introduction to AI Coding
Demonstration: Gemini to Claude Workflow for Website Page
Instruction: Data Structuring for Communication
Application: Expand Website
Instruction: API 101
Application: Exports - JSON, How to speak to a computer
Application: Hidden Comments - how to make AI talk to AI

Day 2:

Information: AI Agency, Authorship, Biases, and Rapid Innovations
Instruction: How to Use Python + pip Install
Application: Bring it into Grasshopper
Application: DIY 3D Printing in Grasshopper
Application: Expand Grasshopper Applications to use JSON
Application: Python in VSCode
Next Steps - Local Models, Claude Code Agents, CV use cases

1. Introduction & PAACADEMY Updates