McNeel Rhino | Blank Canvas: Grasshopper 2 from the Ground Up

Grasshopper 2 is not an update. It is a complete rewrite of one of the

most widely used visual programming environments in computational

design: new data structures, a new component library, and a

fundamentally different approach to how algorithms are constructed.

Prior experience with Grasshopper 1 is neither required nor assumed.

This workshop treats that as an opportunity.

The session runs as a progressive sequence of guided exercises

building fluency with GH2's core concepts — the canvas, data flow,

data types, lists, and the components that manipulate them. By

afternoon, participants are constructing multi-step definitions and

developing an intuition for how GH2 thinks. The format suits absolute

beginners and seasoned GH1 users approaching the new environment for

the first time equally well.

Learning objectives

Understand the GH2 canvas and how data flows through a definition

Work confidently with GH2's native data types, lists, and matching behavior

Use core geometry, math, and logic components to build parametric relationships

Read and debug an unfamiliar GH2 definition

Understand how GH2 differs architecturally from Grasshopper 1

How to access the Rhino MCP GH2 Tools

Outcomes

Participants leave with a working GH2 definition of their own

construction, a reference document of core workflows, and enough

foundational literacy to keep learning independently. The workshop is

built to lower the barrier to computational design for practitioners,

students, and educators who have found tools like Grasshopper to

demand too steep a prior commitment.

Requirements

A Windows or Mac laptop capable of running Rhino Beta with Grasshopper

2. Free evaluation licenses of Rhino Beta are available from McNeel

for participants without an active license. No prior knowledge of

Rhino, Grasshopper, or programming is required.