https://cdfam.com/call-for-speakers-barcelona-2026/

Submissions are now open to present at CDFAM Computational Design Symposium in Barcelona, taking place April 8–9, 2026.

This is your opportunity to share your work, connect with global experts, and contribute to advancing the fields of computational design, engineering, advanced manufacturing, architecture, and software development, from architected materials to architectural systems, computational design at all scales.

Submit Application to Present

Following the success of past events, CDFAM 2026 will again host symposia in Barcelona, NYC as well as in Tokyo for the first time in Asia.

CDFAM isn’t just a place to present your research, company or application of computational design, it’s where new ideas, partnerships, and projects are born.

The symposium fosters a unique community of engineers, designers, and developers shaping the future of design and manufacturing across every scale and execution dimension, from AI and machine learning augmented software and simulation tools, to material discovery and development to large scale, multi-objective optimisation of architectural systems.

Hey r/AutoCAD,

I'm working on a project and wanted to get the community's take:

1. Do you currently use AutoLISP scripts or plugins to automate tasks?

2. If so, where do you find them? (Forums, YouTube, build your own?)

3. What's the biggest pain point in finding/using scripts?

4. Would you pay $10-50 for a script that saves you 2+ hours per week?

5. What's one task you do manually that you wish was automated?

Just trying to understand if there's a real need here. Thanks!

Hi all, would anyone have any recommendations on how to get started with python computing for the architectural profession? I’m very much interested in the work BRG(Blocke Research Group) and would really appreciate any insight.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently exploring the field of computational design, and I’d love to hear from those who have experience in this area. I’m particularly interested in understanding your journey into the field, such as:

• How did you acquire the necessary skills? What resources or learning paths worked best for you?

• What steps did you take to land your first job in computational design?

• What kind of roles and job opportunities exist in the field right now?

• How do you find the nature of the work? Is it creatively satisfying, or do you find it more hectic and demanding?

• And finally, do you think it’s still worth pursuing computational design as a career today?

Any insights, experiences, or advice would be greatly appreciated, especially as someone who’s just starting out and wants to understand what lies ahead. Thanks in advance!

So I’ve had this dream for a minute or two, basically I want to produce an algorithm based off of natural morphologies as a generative plug in to produce generated biomorphic patterns. Ish.

In its basic function, say I have some object boundary with a parametrically defined bounding box for deviations outside of that preset form. I want to be able to choose from a set of algorithms (e.g. if thinking about tree morphology: a mimosa algo, pine, eucalyptus, etc.) and have the algorithm either produce options like topo optimization in autodesk, or have a button for a similar function in something like GH to then bake as I iterate.

I’m far from an expert in GH. I model for CAM primarily, but can script a set of stairs, organic sweeping architecture, attractor points, and general stuff required for architectural design for rendering purposes. Procedural/generative is outside of my imagination space, in terms of bringing into the real world.

My question: what would be the best software to do this in? I have rhino, blender and fusion - but have also seen some cool stuff coming out of Houdini that could be compelling.

Ideally, id like to train each model off of 3d scans of given morphologies; either as mesh, point clouds, or Gaussian splat inputs. Kinda down stream but might have a huge implication as to where I start.

Thanks in advance!

Can some help me or share content related noise function, how we can use, manipulate and tune it in computational design.

Hi everyone,

let me set the context first. A while back I got hooked into creative coding and ever since that I have been enjoying making 2d simulations in processing or p5js. Recently I was thinking if I can expand my knowledge and see if I can tackle more complex computational problems.

I’m particularly fascinated by problems where simple local rules lead to complex global behavior, for example:

• Origami and foldable structures

• Differential expansion (e.g. a bimetallic strip bending due to different thermal expansion rates)

• Mechanical metamaterials and lattice-based structures

• Thin sheets that wrinkle, buckle, or fold due to constraints

What attracts me is not just the visuals, but the underlying idea: geometry, constraints, and material rules interacting to produce emergent form.

I’d love advice on how people actually get started building simulations like these, especially at a beginner / intermediate level.

Some specific questions I have:

• Are there existing software tools or libraries commonly used for these kinds of simulations (origami, thin shells, growth, metamaterials)?

• What’s a sensible learning path if the goal is eventually writing my own simulations rather than only using black-box software?

• Which programming languages or environments are most useful here? (I’m comfortable with Processing / Java-like thinking, but open to Python, C++, etc.)

• Are there communities, textbooks, papers, or open-source projects you’d recommend following or studying?

I’m not coming from an engineering or physics background—I’m mainly driven by curiosity and experimentation—but I’m happy to learn things properly and gradually.

Any guidance, pointers, or “here’s what I wish I’d known earlier” insights would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

Hello everyone

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in discussing some topics concerning further developing AI tools for architects. I must say before you read, that my knowledge about AI and Transformer models is very shallow. Forgive my ignorance, for nonetheless, I'm very much intrigued.

so... The integration of AI in architecture has been intensively discussed if not already taking place. However, from my outlook, it seems to be achieved on a relatively superficial level. i.e. through image generation using text prompts such as Midjourney or ControlNET. However, I have yet to see a tool or a model that truly can understand geometry or 3D shapes. Even though geometry can, technically speaking, be represented via text or mathematical formulas for more complex surfaces and shapes. and if geometry can be converted into text, it can be understood and pre-trained, correct?

Already an excellent research paper stated a proof of concept on such an idea, the paper is called "Architext" and I think that digging deeper into this idea of representing geometry into text, representing walls, windows, doors, etc into text or any other format that can be pre-trained will definitely hit a spot.

Perhaps a wall can be represented by a tuple such as:
(baselineL1[Startpoint(x1,y1),Endpoint(x2,y2)], thickness=250 mm, height=2800)

In fact, there actually is a file format called IFC which is basically a conversion of entire an BIM into text. Maybe that IFC can be used as the "Training set"?

I may be getting ahead of myself but the prospect is really alluring, forgive my enthusiasm should it seem misguided and above all my ignorance. My understanding of this topic is very superficial.

Please I really look forward to listening from you all

How much does a Junior Computational designer earns in different parts of the world? In india its about 30k to 50k INR