The course introduces and implements a productive approach to design and construction using algorithmic techniques. Shape grammars are one of the first, and remain one of the few, computational systems that are fully visual instead of symbolic or numeric. They offer an apparatus that remains distinct from other computational approaches and tools, providing a powerful tool for analysis and synthesis, for exploring the design process and for producing designs.

After introducing the fundamental formal and practical principles of generative grammars through lectures and examples, hands on exercises and applications are explored. The applications concern both the stylistic analysis of individual architectural works and  ofdesign languages, as well as the creative design and production of prototype architectural compositions. Emphasis is given on the systematic presentation and application of general rule schemata, the ways in which they are combined in the production of spatial compositions, and their classification into broader sets as design languages.