Archinect - Features

Storytelling, Bias, and Exploitation in Digital Realms; A Conversation with Miriam Hillawi Abraham

2023-10-24T12:01:00-04:00

For Miriam Hillawi Abraham, the digital realm is one fraught with both opportunities and dangers. The Ethiopian designer and researcher sees digital media as an impactful, playful, and unrestrained way of shaping immersive stories that challenge Western narratives and power dynamics imposed on the African continent, its histories, its built environment, and its people.

Meanwhile, Abraham sounds a timely note of caution on the potential for digital technologies and artificial intelligence to generate a single, incomplete visual language for the future, further propagating a Western-centric monoculture under a false guise of democratization, opportunity, and accessibility.

In July 2023, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Abraham about her life, work, and reflections on the relationship between architecture, storytelling, digital realms, and power relations. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

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

AI Bias and Digital Colonialism; A Conversation with Morehshin Allahyari

2023-10-16T08:16:00-04:00

Whether through her art, writings, or lectures, Morehshin Allahyari's work evokes a range of emotions among its audience. There is wonder and intrigue at her reinterpretation of centuries-old Middle Eastern stories, images, and artifacts. There is introspection on our preconceived views on concepts from open-source data to digital archiving. Finally, there is a blend of frustration and motivation to act as Allahyari takes us on a journey through the exploitative history of colonial power relations between the West and the Middle East.

Using 3D simulation, video, sculpture, and digital fabrication, Allahyari warns us of a modern landscape in which power dynamics straddle both digital and physical worlds, articulating her theory of Digital Colonialism as a "framework for critically examining the tendency for information technologies to be deployed in ways that reproduce colonial power relations." In an age of artificial intelligence, the messages and critiques found within Allahyari's...

Architectural Memory and Film with UCLA's Alekya Malladi, Gesthimani Roumpani, and Yanrong Yang

2020-07-29T13:11:00-04:00

Architecture and it's ability to frame visual narratives has impacted film and entertainment for decades. With the evolution of design techniques and software, a new form of digital storytelling can aide how architecture is used to test design process and pedagogy. University of California Los Angeles Architecture and Urban Design M.Arch students Alekya Malladi, Gesthimani Roumpani, Yanrong Yang use film to dissect architecture and AI in their project, Incognito.

Advised by UCLA's IDEAS Entertainment Studio advisors Natasha Sandmeier and Nathan Su, the group explains how their film "serves as an exposé on memory, spatial reconstruction, and the role of contemporary media in delivering fact and fiction." Archinect connected with the trio as they share their perspectives on working through the pandemic and what their future holds as they enter professional practice. "Our interactions with professionals in the architecture industry have shown us that establishing a clear identity and i...