Complexity and Simplicity Tensions in teaching computation to large numbers of architecture students

This paper describes the challenges and approaches to introduce computational thinking to a large and diverse group of architecture students during an international workshop with 300 students from different cultural backgrounds and educational levels, also integrating a diverse group of tutors whose computational expertise varied extremely. The approach suggested articulating a design task which enforced computational thinking but enabled different levels of engagement with the computer as a tool. Hypothetically this would allow all participants to engage with the computational thinking agenda regardless their computational affinity even whilst applying analogue methods. Besides the intercultural experience the workshop was successful in exposing a large group of students and tutors to the concepts of computational design whilst accommodating different learning preferences and engagement with the computer as a device.