All In Person Workshops are hosted at:

Verizon Education Center

Cornell Tech

2 W Loop Rd, New York, NY 10044

Transit Options

• Roosevelt Island Tramway to / from Manhattan

• Subway via the F Train at the Roosevelt Island Station

• NYC Ferry via the Astoria Route at the Roosevelt Island Stop

9:30 am

10:00 am - 1:00 pm

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Registration

Morning Classes

Lunch Break

Afternoon Classes

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Epic Games + Heatherwick studio

Bringing Rhino models to life with Unreal Engine

There are many great tools out there for rendering your parametric designs, but a game engine might just be the most flexible. Working in an interactive real-time renderer allows for a dynamic presentation that supports creative exploration and wows stakeholders. In this full day workshop, attendees will take a Rhino model designed by Heatherwick Studio and turn it into an interactive animated scene using Grasshopper and Unreal Engine.

Topics covered include

• Organizing Rhino and Grasshopper for transition and integration into Unreal Engine

• Rigging and animating kinematic elements

• Setting up time of day lighting

• Accurate geographical context with Cesium and Google Earth

• Procedural landscaping with PCG

• Programming an interactive presentation

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Dassault Systemes + SHoP Architects

Parametric & Generative Design in CATIA on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform

The focus of this workshop will be to explore parametric, generative design & engineering techniques in a collaborative project environment. We will focus on early concept design and late-stage detailed design methodologies, harnessing the power of automation in CATIA on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform.

While algorithmic design has become commonplace in most design & engineering practices, manufacturing and assembly of building components remains highly confined to flattened construction documents and contractual 2D representations. In this workshop we will seek to break that paradigm by designing building systems that are constructed by an algorithm, not a drawing.

In order to achieve this, we will focus on deploying a novel approach to the design and engineering of a lattice space frame structure and accompanying façade system. We will work with dedicated CATIA applications that focus on freeform surface and solid modeling, algorithmic/generative modeling of a space frame structure, automated lattice creation, and detailed cladding system design.

Facilitating collaboration, all components of the workshop will be managed on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, providing all participants a live view of each other’s progress and the opportunity to collaborate in real-time with each other’s models.

KPF

Grasshopper inside AI: Run Grasshopper definitions from AI assistants with MCP and Rhino.Compute

“Hey AI, could you run this Grasshopper definition for me?”

With Rhino.Compute you can run Grasshopper definitions remotely—without ever opening Rhino or Grasshopper.  The Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables you to connect AI assistants directly to your custom tools. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to combine both technologies and make them work together.

We’ll start with an introduction to Rhino.Compute, followed by an overview of MCP. Then, we’ll walk through building an MCP server that interacts with Rhino.Compute.

By the end of the session, you’ll be able to run Grasshopper definitions remotely through an AI assistant using Rhino.Compute and MCP.

Thornton Tomasetti | CORE studio

Agentic AI and MCP for AEC

2025 is undeniably the year of AI agents! In this workshop, you will learn about Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP), which is quickly becoming an industry standard for connecting Language Models to tools and custom data sources. Together, we will build a series of MCP servers that extend the functionality of Claude Desktop by enabling it to perform actions on your computer and call third-party APIs. We will then build a custom AI Agent that can use our MCPs to reason through problems and even interact with design software. This workshop will give you a solid foundation for automating parts of your daily workflow with MCPs and agentic AI systems.

Foster + Partners

Cyclops : Real-Time GPU-based Environmental Simulation

Learn GPU-accelerated techniques for near–real-time analysis of solar obstruction, daylight autonomy, and cumulative radiation at façade, building, and urban-context scales.

Advancements in GPU-accelerated ray tracing have transformed our ability to conduct city-scale environmental analyses in near real time. This hands-on workshop presents reproducible workflows for GPU-based evaluation of solar obstruction, daylight autonomy, and cumulative radiation at three hierarchical levels of the built environment—façades, individual buildings, and urban contexts.

The workshop is structured into two modules:

1. Foundations of Environmental Analysis, illustrated with industry case studies

2. Analysis Methodologies for near real-time, Performance-Driven Design.

By the end of the workshop, attendees will be equipped with scalable workflows for rapid environmental assessment, ready to integrate into architectural, urban, or research projects.

Kudu

Parametrically Driven ETABS, SAP2000 & SAFE

Learn how to interface with ETABS, SAP2000 & SAFE using the CSiAPI with Grasshopper, C#, and Python.

Improve your data processing workflows with modern tools and custom scripting for

• Faster geometry creation

• Automated property definitions & assignments

• Enhanced visualization of analysis & design results

In this workshop, we will

1. Demystify the CSiAPI, its documentation, and basic setup

2. Explore automated model creation and visualization of CSi models with the Kudu Grasshopper plugin

3. Create our own custom CSiAPI components with C# in Grasshopper

4. Create custom CSiAPI scripts in Python for analysis post-processing, data manipulation, and visualization

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McNeel + Proving Ground

Computational Design with Grasshopper 2

Beginner / Intermediate Level Workshop

For over 15 years, Grasshopper has been the essential tool for computational design workflows in architecture and engineering. In recent years, David Rutten from McNeel has been actively developing Grasshopper 2 (G2). Now in the alpha stage of development, users can begin to test and try G2 in Rhino 8 and Rhino 9.

This workshop will introduce computational design workflows with Grasshopper 2. The workshop will benefit experienced computational designers who are interested in getting oriented to G2. The topics will also serve as a general introduction to computational design concepts for new users.

Grasshopper 2 is more than an incremental update to the tools that designers have become familiar with: G2 is a ground-up rebuild and reimagining of the graphical programming language free of the technical debt of its predecessor. While the overall workflow will be very familiar to veterans of Grasshopper, the G2 interface is modernized with new data management concepts and performance enhancements throughout.

The workshop has the following learning objectives:

• Learn how to install the Grasshopper2 (G2) alongside Grasshopper 1 (G1).

• Learn how to install a third-party plugin (LunchBox G2) to extend G2 functionality.

• Get oriented to G2’s UI/UX through hands-on computational design exercises.

• Become familiar with G2’s new conventions for component logic and data management.

• Learn about options for forward and backwards compatibility between G2 and G1.

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Skema + ShapeDiver

From concept to BIM: Part 1

Reusable design intelligence in the cloud with
Grasshopper, ShapeDiver, Skema, and Revit

This two-part workshop shows how firm-specific knowledge captured in Grasshopper and Revit can be reused through a cloud-based workflow. Part 1 covers how to generate custom unitized facades and integrate Skema with ShapeDiver for reusable, firm-specific design logic.
Part 2 demonstrates how those results flow into Revit for high-fidelity BIM deliverables that preserve design intent.

• Capture firm-specific rules in Grasshopper and publish them through ShapeDiver.

• Integrate Skema with ShapeDiver to automate facade and layout generation.

• Generate a unitized facade system from Skema’s wall geometry using Grasshopper.

• Manage custom unitized facades across projects with reusable presets.

• Use Skema as the mediator for geometry and metadata across platforms.

• Sync Skema’s data-rich models into Revit via Rhino.Inside for high-fidelity BIM deliverables.

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McNeel + Proving Ground

Developing Custom Plugins for Grasshopper 2

Beginner / Intermediate Level Workshop

Grasshopper’s success can be attributed to the computational design community’s efforts in developing an extensive ecosystem of custom plugins. This workshop will serve as an orientation for developing and porting custom plugins with Grasshopper 2 using C# and .NET Core workflows.

This workshop is geared toward Grasshopper users, developers, and script builders interested in creating new plugins or porting their existing plugins to Grasshopper 2. To guide the workshop, C# templates and example source code will be provided for building a functional Grasshopper 2 plugin.

The workshop has the following learning objectives:

• Learn how to install the Grasshopper2 (G2) and custom plugins.

• Learn how to set up a Visual Studio C# project for custom plugin development.

• Learn how to port an existing Grasshopper plugin code to a Grasshopper 2 plugin.

• Learn about tools for creating beautiful vector-based icons for your G2 plugin.

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Skema + ShapeDiver

From concept to BIM: Part 2

Reusable design intelligence in the cloud with
Grasshopper, ShapeDiver, Skema, and Revit

This two-part workshop shows how firm-specific knowledge captured in Grasshopper and Revit can be reused through a cloud-based workflow. Part 1 covers how to generate custom unitized facades and integrate Skema with ShapeDiver for reusable, firm-specific design logic.
Part 2 demonstrates how those results flow into Revit for high-fidelity BIM deliverables that preserve design intent.

• Capture firm-specific rules in Grasshopper and publish them through ShapeDiver.

• Integrate Skema with ShapeDiver to automate facade and layout generation.

• Generate a unitized facade system from Skema’s wall geometry using Grasshopper.

• Manage custom unitized facades across projects with reusable presets.

• Use Skema as the mediator for geometry and metadata across platforms.

• Sync Skema’s data-rich models into Revit via Rhino.Inside for high-fidelity BIM deliverables.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen

Modern UX for AEC Stack: Building Web Interfaces in Revit & Rhino

This hands-on workshop will guide participants through building a modern web-based application on top of an AEC-focused tech stack, integrating with both Revit and Rhino. Over the course of 4 hours, we’ll create a shared web interface loaded inside each host application using WebView2, and connect it to their respective APIs to perform a fun, lighthearted task. The focus will be on showing how a web interface can help deliver delightful, intuitive, and visually polished user experiences, while keeping the architecture clean and maintainable. Attendees can choose to follow along, building only the Revit add-in, only the Rhino plugin, or both if they’re feeling adventurous.

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IaaC + Thornton Tomasetti | CORE studio

Exploring Buildings as graphs

Representing buildings as graphs enables efficient analysis of spatial relationships, navigation, and connectivity by abstracting their properties based on their relationships. This approach helps humans and computers understand buildings, enabling tasks like pathfinding, optimization, and simulation. The workshop will focus on the representation and visualization of buildings as graphs while exploring their opportunities. Participants will learn how to convert IFC files to graphs, visualize them in a web application to get insights, and query their properties using LLMs.

Karamba3D

Scaling Up Parametric Engineering Workflows with Karamba3D 

Karamba3D is a parametric finite element analysis tool embedded in Grasshopper, enabling fast, interactive structural analysis within the Rhino environment. This hands-on workshop will explore how to make these powerful capabilities more accessible to non-expert users, facilitating both the rapid creation of structural models and intuitive interaction with analysis results. 

Building on the latest developments at Karamba3D and custom workflows developed by Bollinger+Grohmann, the session will focus on UI/UX strategies and templated model setups designed to lower the entry barrier for architects, engineers, and designers. The goal is to support wider adoption of computational design methods across multidisciplinary teams. 

Participants will gain insights into practical tools, templates, and interface techniques that eliminate the need for advanced scripting knowledge. The second half of the workshop will introduce simple interaction methods—such as custom UI elements and keyboard-based input tools within Rhino and Grasshopper—to make result exploration easier and more engaging.