Archinect - Features

AI is Good For Architects (For Now)

2024-04-15T13:30:00-04:00

In the final chapter of Archinect In-Depth: Artificial Intelligence, Niall Patrick Walsh reflects on the historical relationship between architecture and technology, charting a trajectory for the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the future of the architectural profession. New contributions on the topic from Autodesk's Mike Haley and Superusers author Randy Deutsch are joined by earlier reflections from throughout the series by Richard Saul Wurman, Carlo Ratti, Bjarke Ingels, and Molly Wright Steenson.

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

A Conversation with Bjarke Ingels on AI, 3D Printing, and the Future of the Architectural Profession

2024-03-19T08:56:00-04:00

It has been almost ten years since Archinect last spoke with Bjarke Ingels. Back then, the topic of conversation was BIG's 'Hot to Cold' exhibition at the National Building Museum. Today, after a decade that has included award-winning Manhattan skyscrapers, floating cities, a Netflix profile, and a Serpentine Pavilion, it's hard to know where to start.

Among the most intriguing recent outputs of BIG's 700-strong team across the United States, Europe, and Asia, however, is their explorations in the field of 3D printing. In collaboration with construction technology specialists ICON, Ingels and his firm have overseen the design and delivery of a wide variety of 3D printed schemes, from a 100-home residential neighborhood and high-end hospitality project, both in Texas, to a Mars simulation habitat developed in collaboration with NASA. Now, in 2024, the team has embarked on its latest 3D printing endeavor: a selection of single-family houses, designed by BIG, to be included in ICON's n...

3D Printing, Artificial Intelligence, and Space Habitats: A Conversation with ICON’s Melodie Yashar

2024-03-12T16:00:00-04:00

As a ‘Space Architect’ working on the design and delivery of 3D printed habitats on the Moon and Mars, Melodie Yashar is aware that, even in space, 3D printing does not exist in a vacuum. Like any construction methodology, it requires a confluence of design intent, delivery systems, material science, and accessible economics.

In her role as Vice President of Building Design & Performance at the construction technologies company ICON, Yashar is overseeing the design and implementation of products across all these fields, with an immediate primary goal of establishing a more affordable and sustainable design and construction system. As Yashar outlined in her 2022 TED Talk, the lessons learned from such ambitious endeavors here on Earth can spark lines of inquiry for perhaps humanity’s ultimate unresolved ambitious endeavor: surviving and thriving beyond Earth itself.

Last week, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Yashar as ICON was in the process of unveiling a suite of new tec...

The People’s Place in the City of Bits and Atoms

2024-03-06T07:34:00-05:00

The city of the 21st century represents a confluence of bits and atoms; an organism in its own right that relentlessly spawns information and data about itself, its people, and the invisible flows that support them. What is the relationship between humans and the city in this new condition? What is its future? To explore these questions, we speak with architect, TED founder, and father of information architecture Richard Saul Wurman, 2025 Venice Biennale curator Carlo Ratti, and MIT Media Lab researchers Naroa Coretti and Ainhoa Genua.

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

Creativity Won’t Protect Architects from Automation — But Labor Unions Might

2024-02-27T07:31:00-05:00

The proliferation of generative AI tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT has undermined long-held assumptions that artificial intelligence would not threaten creative disciplines. In an effort to balance the opportunities and limits of artificial intelligence in the architecture studio, we ask what lessons architects can take from recent successful labor actions by screenwriters and actors in Hollywood's entertainment industry.

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

AI, Complexity, and Ecological Futures: A Conversation with Alisa Andrasek

2023-12-12T08:00:00-05:00

For Alisa Andrasek, a career in architecture represents a point of convergence for her dual passions for art and science. For the past two decades, a respect for both the mathematic and emotional, the computational and the creative, has propelled Andrasek's enthralling investigations into an ecological vision of urbanism.

Describing cities as "the most complex constructs humanity has ever created," Andrasek sees artificial intelligence, computation, and mathematics as a vehicle for delivering urban and infrastructural environments that respect the planet while instilling a sense of "wonder and discovery" in both designers and citizens alike.

In July 2023, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Andrasek about her background, her work across academia and practice, as well as her reflections on the relationship between computation, data, and architecture. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

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

Design, Computation, and Humans: Exploring the Intersection with Onur Yüce Gün

2023-11-27T07:36:00-05:00

For Onur Yüce Gün, the study of computation is the study of the human condition itself. A mission to anchor humans at the center of AI and computational design brought Gün on an educational journey from Middle East Technical University in his native Turkey to the MIT Design and Computation Group, and a professional journey from Kohn Pedersen Fox to his current position as Director of Computational Design at the global footwear brand New Balance.

Whether foot soles or skyscrapers, Gün recognizes the power of blending the hard-won 'generalist specialist' skill of the human designer with the unprecedented power of AI and computation to unlock new scales and resolutions for us to explore, sculpt, and craft. While new waves of generative AI tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT amplify conversations over job replacement, biases, and a loss of meaning, Gün's position is unwavering: "No matter how advanced the design tools, or how advanced the computational techniques are, the human intenti...

Narrative, Media, and AI in Architectural Academia; A Conversation with Natasha Sandmeier

2023-11-06T13:00:00-05:00

Archinect last spoke with Natasha Sandmeier on the themes of visual media and narrative storytelling in 2019. Back then, few could have imagined the seismic impact that generative AI would have on such fields. In her leading role at UCLA AUD's Entertainment Studio, Sandmeier sits at the forefront of an architectural academic landscape, already asking what the recent popularized adoption of AI in design and world-building means for authorship, ethics, representation, learning criteria, and the role of the architect.

The intervening four years since 2019 have also seen a shift in Sandmeier's own responsibilities. Beyond her position as an assistant adjunct professor at UCLA, Sandmeier is now the Executive Director of Los Angeles' A+D Museum, offering yet another outlet to explore the question of how technology is changing the face of architecture and media. The latest appointment adds to Sandmeier's long list of prior positions in the worlds of architectural academia, practice, and cu...

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...

'Beauty Is a Measure of Ecological Intelligence'; A Conversation with ecoLogicStudio Founders Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto

2023-07-31T09:00:00-04:00

Against the backdrop of a frenzied AI discourse dominated by end-product tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney, Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto articulate a refreshing call to adventure. The two ecoLogicStudio founders have built their professional and academic careers at the intersection of computation and biology, allowing them to articulate a vision of artificial intelligence that, in their words, "is more like a slime mold, a spider's web, a microalgae colony, or a mycelium network." Here, the computational and biological find common ground in their use of patterns as meta-language; a commonality that, when pushed, invites both human and non-human designers to shape the built environment as an organism itself rather than a static entity enlivened only by our own mechanics.

For Pasquero and Poletto, this is no theoretical exercise. ecoLogicStudio has already won wide acclaim for its real-world applications of ecological systems in the built environment while also articulating ...

'You Need to Use AI Much More Than You Think to Get Unique Results From It'; A Conversation with Alexis Christodoulou

2023-07-26T08:00:00-04:00

Studying Alexis Christodoulou’s work, including his highly popular Instagram portfolio, one would expect his images to be the product of decades of education, training, and practice at the top of the field. The fact that Christodoulou is a self-taught artist of ten years, preceded by a career in advertising and winemaking, is a testament to the artist’s flair and passion for exploring new frontiers.

That same passion for exploration has allowed Christodoulou’s work to evolve from its simple architectural beginnings to vivid, minimalist experiments in Modernism, Brutalism, and the natural world, to present-day commissions by luxury brands through his company, Color C Design Studio.

In June 2023, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Christodoulou about his career in 3D visualization, including his background, process, tools, and thoughts on how artificial intelligence intersects with his field. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

This article is part...

'What Is Truly Good About AI, Nobody Has Probably Thought of Yet'; A Conversation with Richard Saul Wurman

2023-07-25T08:00:00-04:00

To many, Richard Saul Wurman is inevitably introduced as "the man who created TED." Since Wurman organized the first TED conference in 1984, the organization's library has expanded to over 4,300 publicly available videos from some of the world's greatest minds about some of humanity's most curious and urgent subjects, not to mention the almost 50,000 independent TEDx talks which have been delivered since 2009.

The more one talks to or reads about Wurman, however, the smaller TED seems to shrink amidst a dizzying list of his pursuits into the world of the misunderstood, the unknown, and the unexplored. Born in 1935 in Philadelphia, an architectural alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania, Wurman has counted Louis Kahn and Charles Eames among his mentors and Moshe Safdie and Frank Gehry among his great friends. He has published over 90 books on topics from architecture and graphic design to data and medicine, leaving a trail of influential projects such as TED and TEDMED, theories s...

'AI Is a Dangerous Distraction From the Pressing Issues Defining Our Generation'; A Conversation with Liam Young

2023-07-17T08:21:00-04:00

Liam Young was once described by the BBC as “the man designing our future.” In 2023, with open letters penned on the risks of extinction posed by artificial intelligence, such a role should be in high demand.

Young’s speculations on the future take the form of fictional stories that join the dots between culture and technology; a skill which he believes should sit at the core of the architecture profession. Amid the media frenzy on generative AI tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT, Young stresses the vital need for a creative discipline that measures the dangers of AI against those of climate change: a crisis which Young sees as more dangerous both for its scale and deceptive ubiquity.

In June 2023, Archinect’s Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with Young about his career across design and media, as well as his views on artificial intelligence, climate change, and the role of the architect in addressing both topics. The discussion, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.

This arti...

'AI Could Be Seen as a Culture of Death in Its Darkest Sense'; A Conversation with Genevieve Goffman

2023-07-11T08:16:00-04:00

Genevieve Goffman does not create art about artificial intelligence; at least, not yet. The New York-based artist has instead grounded her acclaimed work in fantasy and narrative world-building, often through the medium of evocative and ornate 3D printed sculptures derived from digital modeling.

While not engaging directly with AI, Goffman’s work finds common ground with contemporary AI discourse through their mutual addressing of the human condition. Reflections on technological progress, failed human ambitions, and digital afterlives weave their way through Goffman’s work to create an indirect bind with AI-inspired reflections on humanity’s ability to define its present and chart its future. In this light, it is no surprise that Goffman’s latest piece The View, sits alongside a selection of architects and designers at the forefront of architecture’s AI discourse within the exhibition /imagine: A Journey into The New Virtual at the MAK in Vienna.

In June 2023, Archinect’s Niall Pat...

'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...

'AI Is Built on Datasets That Are Already Biased'; A Conversation with Felecia Davis

2023-06-22T08:27:00-04:00

Ever since her childhood summers sewing patterns at the family dining table, Felecia Davis has understood the power of textiles to be a vehicle for communication, connection, and understanding. As her career in architecture unfolded in parallel with wider advances in computational capabilities, Davis dedicated her studies, and subsequent career, to the question of how computational textiles could intersect with and challenge social, cultural, and political constructions.

This dedication to mobilizing design and creativity in the name of confronting societal biases permeates Davis' many leadership positions, whether as the founder of Felecia Davis Studio, a co-founder of the Black Reconstruction Collective, or as an associate professor at Penn State University, where she directs SOFTLAB; a research group dedicated to tools, methods, and design solutions associated with computational textiles. Davis’ leadership in the field has been recognized through many honors, including the Archit...

'AI Is Both Incredible and Terrifying'; A Conversation with Neil Leach

2023-06-19T11:00:00-04:00

Neil Leach is a British professor and licensed architect currently based in California. He has worked for NASA developing a 3D printer for the Moon and Mars, and is co-founder of DigitalFUTURES. Having authored over 40 books on architecture and digital design, and taught at some of the world's leading architecture schools, including the AA, Harvard, SCI-Arc, and Columbia, his in-depth understanding of architecture's professional and academic landscapes allows him to speculate how artificial intelligence will impact the future of design.

For Leach, conversations limited to popular AI tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT detract from a broader reckoning that the architecture profession must have in the face of ever-more-capable AI models and platforms. This AI-induced reckoning includes, though is not limited to, the supply and demand of architectural labor, liabilities, and insurance, and the future of all pillars of the architectural community, be it practice, academia, or licensure...

'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.

'The Notion of AI as a Form of Augmentation or Enhancement Is Fascinating to Me'; A Conversation with Behnaz Farahi

2023-06-05T07:31:00-04:00

Behnaz Farahi stands at an eclectic intersection between culture and technology. Trained as an architect, with specializations in computational design, interactive technologies, additive manufacturing, and digital fabrication, Farahi asks how emerging technologies can allow us to creatively explore the most pressing social and cultural issues of our time, from hierarchies and biases to objectification and bodily perception.

Among these many explorations, Farahi has won particular acclaim for her use of fashion to interrogate and subvert the subject of the male gaze on female bodies. In addition to honors and awards from the Cooper Hewitt, Fast Company, and beyond, Farahi's work has been the subject of several exhibitions, including Returning the Gaze at Milan Fashion Week (2022), Caress of the Gaze at the A+D Museum (2016), and most recently, in the immersive experiences Oneness and Blindness at the CSULB Innovation Space on June 10th, 2023.

In May 2023, Archinect's Niall Patrick W...

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...