Archinect - Features

'The Relationship Between AI and Architecture Is Old Enough to Receive Social Security'; A Conversation with Molly Wright Steenson

2023-07-03T14:52:00-04:00

Molly Wright Steenson's introduction to the world of computing came when she was ten years old. From there, her career as a writer, designer, historian, and professor has taken her on a journey of understanding the past, present, and future of artificial intelligence and its relationship with architecture and design. Among her many contributions to the field include two books: Architectural Intelligence: How Designers and Architects Created the Digital Landscape (MIT Press, 2017) and Bauhaus Futures (MIT Press, 2019).

In May 2023, Archinect's Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Steenson on how the relationship between artificial intelligence and architecture has shaped her career. We also reflect on how advances in AI through the 2020s sit within the decades-long history of the field and how architectural practitioners and educators could engage with AI in their own work. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Arti...

'Instead of Living in Fear of AI, Designers Should Engage With It'; A Conversation with Amanda Talbot

2023-06-14T11:09:00-04:00

Amanda Talbot did not come from a technological background. Her career path through architecture, interiors, journalism, and fashion nonetheless instilled in her a commitment to heart-centric design, which she believes is crucial to conversations on the relationship between artificial intelligence and people. Alarmed at an AI landscape dominated by technological determinism and transhumanism instead of the collaborative, egalitarian ethos which she championed, Talbot embarked on a journey of exploration that has led to the creation of Tilly, the "world's first AI designer," and the newest member of Talbot's Sydney-based practice Studio Snoop.

In May 2023, Archinect's Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Talbot about her life, career, and perspectives on AI. We explore how and why Talbot created Tilly, how Tilly collaborates with her human colleagues, and where Tilly sits within Talbot's wider Bauhau-AI movement. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

This article...

When Form Follows Meanings: AI’s Semantic Turn in Architecture

2023-06-12T08:00:00-04:00

In the wake of artificial intelligence’s recently popularized presence in the architectural field and beyond, many are pondering what changes may be on the horizon in the discipline, if any. For Stanislas Chaillou, AI’s dissemination in architecture may refocus the profession’s attention on the importance of semantics as a way to describe and design the built environment. More than a conventional label, Semanticism may give a new name and direction to the practice of architecture, reflecting the conviction that AI-supported design abides by the principle of ‘form follows meanings.’ Below, Chaillou unpacks Semanticism and its agenda, which was first introduced in his recent book AI & Architecture, From Research to Practice (Birkhauser, 2022).

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.

New Dog, New Tricks: Reflections on Construction, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence

2023-05-29T08:00:00-04:00

What is the current relationship between humans, robotics, and construction? What is its future? To explore these questions in depth, Archinect speaks with both Boston Dynamics and the Applied Research + Development group at Foster + Partners for their experiences and perspectives in designing, building, and applying the latest innovations in robotics on construction sites.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.

ChatGPT Interviews Matias del Campo: Architecture, Hallucinations, and other Exotic Occurrences

2023-05-22T12:43:00-04:00

What is artificial intelligence? How can we maximize the benefits of AI while minimizing the risks? Is the role of the architect safe from AI?

In any conversation about the impact of artificial intelligence on the architectural profession, such questions are at the forefront of many human minds. They are also a sample of the series of questions ChatGPT posed to the architect and educator Matias del Campo. In a recent experiment for Archinect, the University of Michigan associate professor and SPAN co-founder switched roles with the popular chatbot to share insights on his background in artificial intelligence and his thoughts on its future application to the design process. The full conversation is republished below.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.

The Illusion of Space: Can Artificial Intelligence Understand the Third Dimension?

2023-05-15T07:08:00-04:00

Popular text-to-image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion have introduced what some believe to be a new creative frontier in the architectural design process. However, they also encourage us to reflect on a series of relationships at the heart of design, representation, and space: That of human versus machine 'understanding,' of two versus three dimensions, and of chaos versus creativity.

Below, the artist, researcher, author, and academic Amanda Wasielewski unpacks such relationships and the role of text-to-image generators as tools in the architecture and design arsenal, with reflections building upon her upcoming book Computational Formalism: Art History and Machine Learning published by MIT Press.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.

Autonomous Algorithmic Architects: Wicked Problems of Machine Learning in Architecture

2023-05-09T07:38:00-04:00

How should the architectural profession consider and respond to futures made possible by advances in artificial intelligence? Can we propose a willful, designed route that acknowledges the inevitability of intelligent machines intersecting with every dimension of design and construction, while maintaining a proper role for human architects? Architect and Yale School of Architecture Associate Dean Phil Bernstein reflects on the opportunities, threats, and resulting strategies for the confluence of human and machine intelligence in the profession in this article adapted from his book Machine Learning: Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence published by RIBA in 2022.

This article is part of the Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence series.

You, Me, and DALL-E: On the Relationship Between Architecture, Data, and Artificial Intelligence

2023-05-01T08:00:00-04:00

Thirty years after the thaw of the last 'AI Winter,' the landscape of artificial intelligence is one of a forest in full bloom. On a weekly basis throughout 2023, new tools have been released taking advantage of the latest advances in machine learning algorithms, while existing software and applications scramble to maintain relevance by incorporating our new AI companions into their interfaces. Architects and designers have also turned their creative energy to investigating how AI-powered image generators can imagine new styles, new experiences, and new worlds, while also exploring how AI chatbots can suggest sustainability strategies, inform fee negotiations, and aid office management.

How did this AI forest come to be? Who are its caretakers? How might it continue to grow in the future? What is its relationship to the design and operation of the built environment? In our search for answers, we speak with one expert spanning architectural practice and academia on how designers can...

CO Creation : when machine learning meets architecture

2022-04-07T11:00:00-04:00

It’s not breaking news that Artificial Intelligence has started to affect the field of architecture in previous years. One of the most influential academic projects that changed the field was the 2019 Harvard GSD thesis by Stanislas Chaillou’s “AI+Architecture,” influencing studios around the world.

In this article, we will take a look at the approach toward AI that Die Angewandte put together for empowering architecture students, the designers of the future.

What Is the Real Threat of Artificial Intelligence to the Architecture Profession?

2021-04-22T08:03:00-04:00

Artificial intelligence could potentially help us streamline the more rudimentary and tedious aspects of design to free up more time for creative problem solving and response to human needs. It would be unreasonable to say that any AI that we could conceive in our lifetime would be able to intimately familiarize itself with the breadth of human experience to allow it to make accurate determinations about the things we need. Oftentimes the things we need are rooted in aesthetics that are meant to facilitate our emotional well-being or they are otherwise rooted in cultural lineages and traditions that are difficult as yet to quantify.

The Technological Sublime of Non-Human Spaces: A Review of Liam Young's "Machines Landscapes"

2019-03-20T12:00:00-04:00

A significant number of buildings around the world are deliberately uninhabitable by humans. They are, however, designed absolutely towards the service of human needs. The unusual conditions of these buildings, including those of telecommunications networks, automated agriculture and data centers are explored in Machine Landscapes: Architectures of the Post-Anthropocene, a timely publication by Liam Young, the Australian-born architect operating in the spaces between design, fiction and futures, currently teaching at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc).

Liam Young and Geoff Manaugh will present their thoughts on the book at Architect Outpost March 23rd at 7pm, followed by a book signing. Machine Landscapes can be preordered from Archinect Outpost here.

You can RSVP here to reserve your spot at the event.

Machine Learning and the Space of All Possible Futures

2019-03-05T19:35:00-05:00

History Repeats Itself

If you were a designer of physical things like buildings or cars or bridges in December 1982, you would have been forgiven for thinking that computer-aided design was a novelty. It probably seemed like an abstract technical exercise that would never be able to supplant the maylines, rotring pens, and tilt-y tables that were stalwart in design offices. There was simply too much material complexity in this endeavor, it requires too much human creativity and too much mental plasticity to be all nicely packaged up into an IBM 5150.