food4Rhino webinar: Designing for People using Kova PedSim: A Social Pedestrian Simulation in Grasshopper3D

People are at the heart of every architecture and design project, yet predicting how they will move through and experience that environment continues to be a fundamental challenge. In this webinar, Puja Bhagat and Jonathan Wong introduce Kova PedSim, a socially driven, agent-based pedestrian simulation plugin for Grasshopper3D that brings human behavior into the design process from the earliest stages. Rather than treating pedestrian analysis as a final validation step, Kova PedSim enables designers to explore how movement, social interactions, and spatial experiences evolve alongside their design.

Through a live demonstration, attendees will learn how Kova PedSim’s simulation engines can model pedestrian movement across urban and architectural scales, generate meaningful analytical outputs, and integrate seamlessly into parametric workflows.

Speakers:

– Puja Bhagat is a computational designer who holds an M.Arch in Emergent Technologies and Design from the Architectural Association and a B.Arch from Penn State University. Her work focuses on bridging design, simulation, and behavior to support more informed, human-centered design decisions. By integrating the physical and digital realms, she develops context-specific and dynamically adaptive solutions that foster interconnected spaces.

– Jonathan Wong is a computational designer who holds an M.Arch in Emergent Technologies and Design from the Architectural Association, and a B.Arch and a B.S. in Mathematics from Penn State University. His work focuses on developing computational workflows and digital tools to enable architects and designers to make informed, data-driven decisions at every stage of the design process. He is particularly interested in transforming complex analytical methods into intuitive tools that support better design outcomes.