The goal of the class is to explore the intersection of textile fabrication, computational design, and design thinking. Students will learn how computational methods can transform knitting from a traditional craft into a precise digital fabrication technique for creating complex tensile structures and geometric components. By using the 3D knitting machine, students will gain practical experience with digital knitting tools and develop an understanding of how computation enables new possibilities for textile-based architecture. No prior knitting experience required—just curiosity about the intersection of materials, code, and form.

Topics to be covered:

• Design to Fabrication Pipelines: Learn how to translate geometric design concepts into machine-executable (knitting) instructions, bridging the gap between digital design and physical production through computer numerically controlled processes.
• Computational Scripts and Algorithms: Develop computational scripts that encode knitting patterns, structural logic, and material behaviours, creating rule-based systems for generating complex forms. Gain an understanding of algorithmic thinking and how to design procedures that generate textile architectures.
• Topology and Geometry: Explore topological principles and geometric relationships that inform knitted structures, understanding how stitch connectivity, surface curvature, and mesh organization shape both form and function.
• Design of Tensile Structures: Explore how knitted textiles can function as architectural elements, understanding the relationship between stitch patterns, material properties, and structural performance.

4.542:

An advanced examination of the shape grammar formalism and its relationship to some key issues in a variety of other fields, including art and design, philosophy, history and philosophy of science, linguistics and psychology, literature and literary studies, logic and mathematics, and artificial intelligence. Student presentations and discussion of selected readings are encouraged. Topics vary from year to year.

4.582:

In-depth presentations of current research in design and computation.

Reading and discussion of texts broadly to the field of Design and Computation. Texts will focus on the history, theory, and practice of computation for design and explore questions of how humans and machines sense, represent, understand, think, and make. Discussions will be informed by texts from a variety of fields including architecture, anthropology, computer science, cognitive sciences, and philosophy. The goal is to serve as a space for students to step back from technical investigations and engage with underlying questions about what it means to employ computation in design.

Preliminary study in preparation for the thesis for the SMArchS degree in Computation. Topics include literature search, precedents examination, thesis structure and typologies, and short writing exercise.

UG: 4.550 G: 4.570

Class website

Provides students with an opportunity to explore projects that engage real world problems concerning spatial design, technology, media, and society. In collaboration with industry partners and public institutions, students identify topical issues and problems, and also explore and propose solutions through the development of new ideas, theories, tools, and prototypes. Industry and academic collaborators act as a source of expertise, and as clients and critics of projects developed during the term. General theme of workshop varies by semester or year. Open to students from diverse backgrounds in architecture and other design-related areas.

Additional work required of students taking graduate version.

4.542: An advanced examination of the shape grammar formalism and its relationship to some key issues in a variety of other fields, including art and design, philosophy, history and philosophy of science, linguistics and psychology, literature and literary studies, logic and mathematics, and artificial intelligence. Student presentations and discussion of selected readings are encouraged. Topics vary from year to year.

4.582: In-depth presentations of current research in design and computation.

An in-depth introduction to shape grammars and their applications in architecture and related areas of design. Shapes in the algebras Ui j, in the algebras Vi j and Wi j incorporating labels and weights, and in algebras formed as composites of these. Rules and computations. Shape and structure. Designs.

Topics vary from year to year. Can be repeated with permission of instructor.

UG: 4.520 G: 4.521

Introduces a visual-perceptual, rule-based approach to design using shape grammars. Covers grammar fundamentals through lectures and in-class, exercises. Focuses on shape grammar applications, from stylistic analysis to creative design, through presentations of past applications and through short student exercises and projects. Presents computer programs for automating shape grammars.

Additional work required of students taking graduate version.

UG: 4.507 G: 4.567

Addresses fundamental methods, theories, and practices that engage contemporary modeling tools in the context of architectural design. Introduces selected academic and professional topics through lectures, demonstrations, and assignments. Topics include parametric modeling, component types and assembly, prototyping, scripting, and simulations. Initiates intellectual explorations in the use of building information modeling in research projects and design practices.

Additional work required of students taking graduate version.

See class website.

UG: 4.507 G: 4.567

Addresses fundamental methods, theories, and practices that engage contemporary modeling tools in the context of architectural design. Introduces selected academic and professional topics through lectures, demonstrations, and assignments. Topics include parametric modeling, component types and assembly, prototyping, scripting, and simulations. Initiates intellectual explorations in the use of building information modeling in research projects and design practices.

Additional work required of students taking graduate version.

See class website.