The course will address various topics within the field digital imagery and CG production. By introducing advanced tools and techniques and through productive experimentation we will also address the ongoing discussion around the digital realm, image sciences and the iconic turn. Students are invoked to further develop their technical abilities as well as define/refine/redefine an attitude towards their style of visual communication. We will also see the strong relation of DCC-production to our physical space, tools and effects.

CGI production overlaps the domain of architectural production although approaches and methods are slightly different. Where architects need to measure and keep a consistency between the existing physical space and the artifact, CGI production just operates in the realm of visual content.  CGI tools are more derived from sculptors painters photographers animators than from constructors or engineers.  CGI production needs to be fast, imaginative- consistency is needed just when you can see it. Think of a set design from the movies.

SHEDULE

1. date: 03 March 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
2.  date: 10 March 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
3.  date: 17 March 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
4.  date: 24 March 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
5.  date: 14 April 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
6.  date: 21 April 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
7.  date: 28 April 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
8.  date: 05 May 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
9.  date: 12 May 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)
10.  date: 19 May 2026, 10:45–12:15 OK Room 129 (ddplab)

01 Tutorials

Choose a Tutorial (one of the recommended) either from the list or by your own choice. We need to get into “Low Poly” modelling, Scene setup and managing basic Light/Materials setup. So the tutorial should focus on these topics. In case you are a complete Beginner in DCC software please come back to me to find appropriate lessons. 
Step 1: Learn to model: make some Objects, Animals, Landscapes etc. based on the tutorials provided. It can be whatever you like, preferable more than only the “Giraffe”. 
Step 2: Make an image. Take your models and put them into a scene, means we need a Camera, Light and materials (just diffuse color, no textures!, no FX!). Think about composition, mood, style, a Narrative etc. Play with your camera and light setup like a Photographer. Make an image by rendering your scene, and send me…
For getting an impression of your progress please bring your laptop with the current stage of your work to the course. When done you send me your final outcome per mail (3 images, screenshots, file not needed if i have seen it already).

Skills required after the fourth session:

-Navigating in Blender knowing the Basic Interfaces
-Setting up a Scene (Lights and Camera)
-Making basic Materials (Material Qualities without Texturing)
-Understanding the basic Concepts of Low Poly Modeling (Quads, Topology, Loops, Snapping) 
-Scene Organisation (Right Scale, Copy/Instance, Parent/Child, Modifier, Collections
-Rendering a still image in EVEE and CYCLES (differences?)

PART 2 Design studies with AI

When we attempt to describe spaces, images, sculptures, or other visually perceived phenomena, we often realize that language does not automatically produce the images we intend in the minds of others. This difficulty is particularly significant for those working in visual disciplines, including design, architecture, photography, and the arts.

With the emergence of generative AI, designers now have access to a new range of tools that are largely controlled through language. In order to work with these tools effectively, we must develop greater precision, sensitivity, and specificity in our verbal expression. Prompting is therefore not merely a technical operation, but a form of design communication.

Verbal language becomes part of the design process itself: a means of formulating intention, testing alternatives, steering visual outcomes, and reflecting on spatial and aesthetic decisions. The ability to describe form, atmosphere, materiality, proportion, composition, and context becomes a crucial design skill in AI-assisted creative work.

Use this document for all further steps regarding AI prompting: Download Prompting Cookbook

01 little exercise on prompt design

Analyse the the sculpture below and try to find a prompt to generate a new image of the sculpture as similar as possible to the original. What is not allowed: Giving any reference to the original! No name of artist, name of sculpture etc. Keep your prompts and the images generated. Use tools of your choice.

02 Form finding with AI

This exercise uses prompting not as a way to produce finished images, but as a way to guide an architectural design process through language.The goal is to develop an abstract form study for a hypothetical building. The output should remain reduced, similar to a working model: massing, volume, void, light, sequence and spatial idea are more important than realism, style or visual spectacle.

Design Brief: The Outpost

“black and gigantic against the intense purity of the evening sky”
“the ramparts, the very landscape, breathed an inhospitable and sinister air”

Design an abstract architectural structure inspired by the atmosphere of Dino Buzzati’s “Il deserto dei Tartari“.
The project should not illustrate a military fortress literally. Instead, translate the idea of a remote border outpost into spatial operations: approach, delay, threshold, enclosure, watching, horizon, emptiness and expectation.

The first phase focuses on prompt-based idea finding and massing.
The second phase uses critique prompts and Blender iterations to refine the spatial idea.
The third phase defines a restrained material and detail strategy.

The final model should remain reduced, like a working model. Avoid cinematic science fiction, historical fortress imagery and decorative realism.

List of Resources and Tutorials