PSCE
2110

Digital Fabrication for Nonhuman Bodies

Parsons School of Design: School of Constructed Env.

Non-Liberal Arts
Undergraduate Course
Degree Students
Digital Fab for Nonhumans
Fall 2026
Taught By:
Section: A

CRN: 19639

Credits: 3

This course explores the creative and material possibilities of digital fabrication to design with and for nonhuman bodies. Working across digital and analogue modes of prototyping, such as laser cutting, CNC routing, 3D modeling, and 3D printing, together with hands-on, tactile methods including sewing, pattern generation, joining techniques, and experimental material play, the class invites students to consider more-than-human life of animals, plants, and fungi not as passive recipients of design but as active agents within our shared ecologies. Through a series of research-driven, studio-based projects, students will explore how the expressive and communicative capacities of form and material can deepen human–nonhuman relationships. We will examine how the built environment affects the daily lives of nonhumans, and how designers might use digital fabrication to support, enhance, or challenge these interactions. Emphasis will be placed on the design and fabrication of more-than-human habitats and devices such as feeders, nest boxes, shelters, climbing structures, moisture chambers for fungi, or pollinator architectures, based on student interests and field observations. Digital fabrication techniques we will explore include digital 3d modelling using mostly Rhinoceros, laser cutting and parametric techniques with Grasshopper, and preparation of files for 3d printing and CNC to also understand the machines available at Parsons and their respective capacities and limitations. The course encourages speculative, playful, and ecologically sensitive approaches, while grounding each project in real-world environmental considerations and fabrication constraints.

Open to: All university undergraduate degree students.
Prerequisites: No Prerequisites
Co-Requisites: No Co-requisites

College: Parsons School of Design (PS)

Department: School of Constructed Env. (SCE)

Campus: New York City (GV)

Course Format: Studio (S)

Modality: In-Person

Max Enrollment: 0
Repeat Limit: N/A

Add/Drop Deadline: September 8, 2026 (Tuesday)

Online Withdrawal Deadline: November 16, 2026 (Monday)

Seats Available: No

Status: Closed*

* Status information is updated every few minutes. The status of this course may have changed since the last update. Open seats may have restrictions that will prevent some students from registering. Updated: 4:26pm EDT 3/22/2026