An Introduction to Computational Design with Dynamo
A free, self-paced introduction to computational design — and to visual programming with Dynamo — building a parametric model from Revit elements, written for people who have never written a line of code.
Workshop overview
The purpose of this workshop is to learn the basic-to-intermediate visual programming techniques and concepts that are essential for mastering computational design tools. It develops a foundation-level understanding of these concepts through procedural modelling using Dynamo's visual programming language.
By the end of the workshop you will have created a parametric model built from Revit elements which can be manipulated live from Dynamo. Along the way the workshop introduces computational thinking and explores the key procedural-modelling concepts — parameter space, lists, lacing, data management and list indexing.
The workshop is split into four steps which guide you through the objectives, and is designed so you gain an applied understanding of each concept as you build.
What you'll build
A double-curved roof structure assembled from adaptive components hosted on a parametric point grid — every part of which updates live as you change the inputs in Dynamo.
The four steps
- Step 1 · Create a Point Grid — a coordinate system you can translate and rotate, and a point grid generated with lacing.
- Step 2 · Framing Geometry — framing lines driven by a controller point, with points placed along each line.
- Step 3 · Point List Management — analyse the problem and manipulate lists to build the point sets you need.
- Step 4 · Adaptive Components — restructure the points and place dynamic adaptive components in Revit.
Prerequisites
| Software | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Revit | Autodesk Revit 2025 |
| Dynamo | Dynamo 3 (installed with Revit) |
| Sample family | The Bimorph adaptive component (download below) |
You'll need the adaptive family loaded into a Revit project for Step 4:
Download the adaptive component (.rfa)