Computational Design for Landscape Architects

This book is a guide to computational design for landscape architects replete with extensive tutorials. It introduces algorithmic approaches for modeling and designing landscapes. The aim of this book is to use algorithms to understand and design landscape as a generative system, i.e. to harness the processes that shape landscape to generate new forms.

An algorithmic approach to design is gently introduced through visual programming with Grasshopper, before more advanced methods are taught in Python, a high-level programming language.

Topics covered include parametric design, randomness and noise, waves and attractors, lidar, drone photogrammetry, point cloud modeling, terrain modeling, earthworks, digital fabrication, and more.

The chapters include sections on theory, methods, and either visual programming or scripting. Online resources for the book include code and datasets so that readers can easily follow along and try out the methods presented. This book is a much-needed guide, both theoretical and practical, on computational design for students, educators, and practitioners of landscape architecture.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Visual Programming

3. Programming

4. Randomness

5. Random Paving

6. Tessellations

7. Point Clouds

8. Grove

9. Waves

10. Surfaces

11. Patterns

12. Attractors

13. Noise

14. Biome

15. Terrain

16. Dunes

17. Earthworks

18. Fabrication

A. Packages

B. Color Gradients

C. File Paths

D. Code and Data

About the Author

Brendan Harmon is a computational designer, spatial scientist, and Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University, where he teaches geographic information systems, computational design, digital fabrication, and robotics.