The Research Behind Rhino.Ecologic

Rhino.Ecologic started as an experiment with a simple question: what if there were a tool like Ladybug, but for ecological analysis? The environmental analysis tools designers rely on every day can tell you about sun, wind, and energy. We wanted to know whether the same parametric, in-Grasshopper approach could work for living systems, where the thing you are analysing grows, competes, and changes over time.

That question turned into a research effort that brings ecosystems to life inside Rhino and Grasshopper. Instead of treating vegetation as a fixed layer you draw, Rhino.Ecologic models plant communities as living, evolving assemblages, shaped by sunlight, soil, precipitation, and the traits of each species.

The shift happens when your design geometry becomes a living environment. Rhino.Ecologic turns it into a detailed, voxel-based spatial model where ecological conditions vary from place to place, and where plants grow, compete, reproduce, and die through an individual-based simulation, driven by the same interactions that shape real ecosystems.

Because the simulation runs inside your parametric workflow, every design iteration becomes an ecological scenario. Change the geometry, and you change the conditions that decide how the landscape will develop over time. Biodiversity, biomass, and spatial distribution patterns are not drawn in. They emerge from the design itself.

This is ecology as a design driver rather than an afterthought, a move from evaluating landscapes after they are built toward anticipating how they will grow. Built at the intersection of landscape ecology, computational design, and environmental simulation, Rhino.Ecologic is part of ongoing research into embedding living processes directly into the tools designers already use.

Publications

CDFAM. (2026). Ecological simulation framework for Rhino/Grasshopper: Interview with Verena Vogler of McNeel Europe. Read article

Vogler, V., Kourkopoulos, E., Fraguada, L., Mimet, A., Joschinski, J. (2025). Integrating Ecological Modeling into the 3D CAD System Rhinoceros. JoDLA Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture, Issue 10-2025, 86–100. Berlin/Offenbach: Wichmann Verlag im VDE VERLAG. e-ISSN 2511-624X, https://doi.org/10.14627/537754009.

Vogler, V., Kourkopoulos, E., Joschinski, J., Eckelt, K. (2025). Developing Volumetric Data Models for ML Training Datasets Using Grasshopper. JoDLA Journal of Digital Landscape Architecture, Issue 10-2025, 101–113. Berlin/Offenbach: Wichmann Verlag im VDE VERLAG. e-ISSN 2511-624X, https://doi.org/10.14627/537754010.

Biselli, L. (2025). Report 4. Shape to Fabrication 2025. https://shapetofabrication.com/shape-to-fabrication-conference-reports-2025/

Joschinski J., Boulangeat I., Calbi M., Hauck T.E, Vogler V., Mimet A. (2024). The Ecolopes Plant Model: a high-resolution model to simulate plant community dynamics in cities and other human-dominated and managed environments. bioRxiv 2024.09.23.614561.

Workshops

McNeel Europe R&D Team. (2026). Designing with Living Systems [Workshop online]. https://blog.rhino3d.com/2026/03/designing-with-living-systems-online.html

McNeel Europe R&D Team. (2025). Rhino.Ecologic: Introducing a New Ecological Simulation Framework for Rhino/Grasshopper [Workshop London]. Climate Matters Week, EmTech Programme, Architectural Association (AA). https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/public/whats-on/climate-matters-week-2025

Presentations

Vogler V. (2026). Integrating Ecological Simulation into Design. [Presentation Barcelona]. CDFAM- Computational Design Symposium Barcelona.

McNeel Europe R&D Team. (2025). Integrating Ecological Modelling in Rhino/ Grasshopper. [Presentation in Dessau]. Digital Landscape Architecture Conference (DLA) Dessau.

McNeel Europe R&D Team. (2025). Rhino.Ecologic®: Integrating Ecological Modelling in Rhino/ GH. [Presentation London]. Shape to Fabrication Conference London.

Acknowledgements

Development of Rhino.Ecologic has been supported by McNeel Europe and Robert McNeel & Associates. Early conceptual research informing aspects of this work was supported by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 (Grant Agreement No. 964414, Work Package 3).

Rhino.Ecologic is a free Grasshopper plugin for Rhino 8 and Rhino BETA for Windows.

• METHODS → Understand the ecological & environmental models behind the simulation.
• DOCUMENTATION → Everything you need to run your first simulation.