Curated video resources for learning data-driven design in architecture. Organised by topic with recommended viewing order for newcomers. --- ## Foundational Lectures 1. **"Optimization as a Design Tool in Architecture"** — Banafsheh Fahimipour - Topic: How optimisation algorithms can augment rather than replace architectural design judgement - Relevance: Addresses the core tension in data-driven design 2. **"Data-Driven Urban Design"** — UTS (University of Technology Sydney) - Topic: Using urban data to inform design decisions at neighbourhood and city scale - Relevance: Extends data-driven thinking beyond individual buildings 3. **"The Seven Myths of Data-Driven Design"** — Sujin Lee - Topic: Common misconceptions about what data can and cannot do in design - Relevance: Critical thinking about the limits of data-driven approaches 4. **"Informed Data-Driven Computational Design"** — Rick Titulaer (Arup) - Topic: How a global engineering firm integrates computational design with professional practice - Relevance: Industry perspective on making computational design work at scale --- ## Biomimicry 5. **"What Humans Can Learn from Semi-Intelligent Slime"** — Heather Barnett (TED Talk) - Topic: Physarum polycephalum and its network optimisation capabilities - Relevance: Directly applicable to infrastructure and urban network design 6. **"How This Desert City Stays Cool" (Ancient Air Conditioning)** - Topic: Traditional passive cooling in Middle Eastern architecture - Relevance: Historical data-driven design — centuries of empirical optimisation 7. **"See How Termites Inspired a Building That Can Cool Itself"** - Topic: The Eastgate Centre biomimicry story - Relevance: The most cited example of biomimetic architecture 8. **"Mimicking Glass Sponges for Lightweight Building Materials"** - Topic: Venus' Flower Basket structural research and architectural applications - Relevance: Computational structural biomimicry --- ## Parametric Design Tutorials ### Grasshopper Fundamentals - **McNeel Europe** YouTube channel — official Rhino/Grasshopper tutorials from beginner to advanced - **3D Beast** — step-by-step Grasshopper tutorials focused on architectural applications - **Paramarch** — parametric architecture tutorials with detailed workflow explanations ### Environmental Analysis - **Ladybug Tools** YouTube channel — tutorials for solar analysis, energy modelling, daylight simulation, and outdoor comfort analysis in Grasshopper - **Autodesk Forma** tutorials — quick-start guides for cloud-based environmental analysis ### Structural + Optimisation - **Karamba3D** tutorials — structural analysis within Grasshopper; topology optimisation workflows - **Wallacei** tutorials — multi-objective optimisation with advanced analytics --- ## Architecture & Technology 9. **"The Living, Breathing Building"** — Bloomberg HQ documentary - Topic: How London's Bloomberg headquarters uses data for natural ventilation, acoustic ceiling design, and occupant comfort - Relevance: Post-occupancy data integration in high-performance architecture 10. **"Inside The Edge: The World's Greenest Office Building"** - Topic: Deloitte's Amsterdam headquarters — 28,000 sensors, personalised workspaces, energy-positive design - Relevance: Digital twin and IoT integration in practice --- ## Data Visualization 11. **"The Beauty of Data Visualization"** — David McCandless (TED Talk) - Topic: How visual representation transforms our understanding of data - Relevance: Applicable to architectural data communication 12. **"Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes"** — BBC - Topic: Animated data visualisation showing global development trends - Relevance: Masterclass in making data engaging and accessible to non-expert audiences --- ## Urban Data & Smart Cities 13. **"Sidewalk Labs Toronto"** — documentary and critique - Topic: Google's attempt to build a data-driven urban district; the privacy and governance controversies - Relevance: The ethical dimensions of data-driven urbanism 14. **NYC DOT Green Light for Midtown** — project documentation - Topic: Data-driven Broadway pedestrianisation — traffic analysis, before/after metrics, public space transformation - Relevance: Exemplary case of data visualisation driving urban policy --- ## Recommended YouTube Channels - **McNeel Europe** — official Rhino/Grasshopper - **Ladybug Tools** — environmental analysis - **CDFAM** — computational design talks and conferences - **Sebastian Lague** — creative coding and procedural generation - **Parametric Architecture** — news, tutorials, project features - **The B1M** — construction technology and building innovation - **ArchiDiaries** — architecture concepts and analysis --- *Part of the Data-Driven Design in Architecture lecture series.*