Autodesk Maya for Architecture
Explore why architects at leading firms like Zaha Hadid Architects use Maya for complex architectural visualization. This course covers Maya's interface, viewport navigation, polygonal modeling fundamentals, and advanced techniques like lofting, extrusion, and boolean operations. You'll complete two case studies—Arena Tower by SOM and Beijing National Hotel by Tom Wiscombe—learning material setup with Hypershade, Arnold rendering, lighting, camera work, and animation for architectural presentations.
- 4+ hours of premium content
- 10 step-by-step video lessons
- Future updates included
About this course
Learn Maya from the ground up through practical architectural projects. The course starts with interface fundamentals, viewport navigation, and selection tools before progressing to polygonal modeling with mesh editing, Smooth Mesh Preview, and deformers like Bend and Lattice for organic forms. Two detailed case studies—Arena Tower by SOM and Beijing National Hotel by Tom Wiscombe—walk you through modeling complete buildings, setting up materials and textures in Hypershade, configuring Arnold renders with HDRI lighting, and creating camera animations with keyframing, the Graph Editor, and Playblast previews.
This comprehensive Maya training course transforms your approach to advanced architectural modeling through sophisticated polygonal and NURBS techniques that push the boundaries of conventional architectural software capabilities. You'll master Maya's powerful node-based workflow systems that support parametric design thinking and complex deformation systems, enabling the visualization of cutting-edge contemporary architecture that challenges traditional geometric constraints.
The curriculum emphasizes practical application through two iconic architectural case studies: Arena Tower by SOM and Beijing National Hotel by Tom Wiscombe, demonstrating Maya's capabilities across different scales and complexity levels. You'll develop expertise in advanced modeling techniques including BlendShape technology, space frame systems, and complex surface generation that capture distinctive architectural characteristics.
Advanced visualization techniques include Arnold rendering integration, sophisticated lighting design, and professional animation workflows that create compelling architectural presentations. The course covers material creation, camera animation strategies, and post-production integration that produce studio-quality visualizations suitable for high-end architectural marketing and competition submissions.
These specialized skills position you to leverage Maya's unique strengths in architectural practice, particularly for complex geometric forms and advanced visualization requirements that exceed traditional architectural software capabilities. The techniques learned apply directly to cutting-edge architectural projects, competition entries, and visualization work that requires sophisticated computational design approaches.
What will you learn?
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This course will turn you into:
A confident Maya user
Comfortable navigating Maya's interface, switching between Object and Component modes, and organizing complex scenes with the Outliner—ready to tackle architectural projects.
An architectural modeler
Capable of building complex forms using lofting, extrusion, booleans, and BlendShapes. Two case studies—Arena Tower and Beijing National Hotel—prove you can model real buildings.
A visualization creator
Able to set up Arnold renders with Hypershade materials, HDRI lighting, and camera animations. Produce turntable previews and client-ready stills.
Syllabus
Discover why architects at firms like Zaha Hadid Architects use Maya for complex organic forms. Tour Maya's interface including menus, shelves, the Outliner, Channel Box, and Attribute Editor. Configure preferences for architectural work: setting Z-axis as up, adjusting units, and increasing undo history for non-destructive modeling.
Master 3D viewport navigation using Alt+mouse combinations for pan, zoom, and orbit. Learn selection tools and transformation shortcuts (W/E/R for move, rotate, scale). Understand the difference between Object Mode and Component Mode for polygonal modeling, and use the 1/2/3 keys to toggle smooth mesh preview on and off.
Model a simple house from scratch to learn core polygon techniques. Import IGES curves from CAD, use layers to organize your scene, extrude faces to create walls, bridge edges to connect geometry, and use the Multi-Cut tool for adding detail. Create window and door openings with Boolean operations, clean up mesh errors, and explore the Content Browser for ready-made assets.
Manipulate mesh topology to create hexagonal facade patterns: triangulate faces, chamfer vertices, and extrude. Use deformers (Bend, Lattice) to warp flat panels into curved forms. Activate Soft Selection with the B key for organic sculpting, add creases to control subdivision, and create custom shelf buttons with MEL scripts to speed up your workflow.
Model Arena Tower (Baltimore Tower) by SOM using Duplicate Special to create rotating floor plates that twist as they rise. Block out the tower massing, add surrounding context buildings for scale, and organize your scene with proper naming conventions and file structure for larger projects.
Render the Arena Tower using Arnold. Group objects and organize the Outliner for a clean scene. Create materials in Hypershade and assign them to building elements. Set up area lights for architectural lighting, load an HDRI environment for reflections, and configure render settings for final output.
Model the Beijing National Hotel facade using BlendShapes. Create a base mesh and target shapes with matching vertex counts, then blend between them using the BlendShape deformer. Paint weights to control where openings appear across the facade, creating smooth gradients from solid to perforated surfaces.
Set up Arnold's Physical Sky for realistic daylight. Use Sky Dome lights with HDRIs from Poly Haven for environment lighting. Add atmospheric fog effects to create depth and mood. Create emissive geometry for glowing elements in night renders.
Learn Maya's animation timeline and set keyframes using the S shortcut. Animate camera movements and object transformations for architectural walkthroughs. Create turntable animations to showcase your model from all angles. Use Playblast to quickly preview animations without full rendering.
Export Maya models for use in other software. Convert Smooth Mesh Preview to actual polygons for export. Transform polygon meshes to NURBS surfaces when needed. Export as OBJ for general 3D exchange or IGES for CAD software like Rhino. Learn the workflow for moving geometry between Maya and Rhino for further development.
Meet your instructor
Nicolas Turchi
Professor in Advanced Digital Design
Manchester School of Architecture
Hi I'm Nicolas, a Lecturer in Advanced Digital Design at Manchester School of Architecture and an Adjunct Professor in Computational and Parametric Design at the University of Bologna, where I lead research in digital fabrication and computational design. As an associate at DesignMorphine and founder of NT[A]R, I bridge academic research with practical design innovation. I hold a Masters in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and dual degrees from the University of Bologna. My professional experience spans innovative architectural practices including Zaha Hadid Architects, Peter Eisenman Architects, MCA Mario Cucinella Architects, and Hernan Diaz Alonso Architects, where I developed expertise in computational design workflows that inform my teaching approach.
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