AI is challenging the boundaries of the physical realm.
Technology has long enabled architecture to expand the boundaries of form and function. As early as 1963, Sketchpad, one of the pioneering architectural software programs, allowed architects and designers to manipulate objects on screen. As a result, traditional hand drawing transitioned into a diverse array of software—including Revit, SketchUp, and BIM—that facilitates the creation of floor plans and sections, monitors buildings’ energy efficiency, promotes sustainable construction practices, and assists in adhering to building codes, among other applications.
The architects featured in “Transductions” perceive the emerging forms of AI “like a new tool rather than a profession-ending development,” notes Vigneri-Beane, despite the concerns some of his colleagues have regarding the technology. He acknowledges, “I do appreciate that it’s a somewhat unnerving thing for people, [but] I feel a familiarity with the rhetoric.” He emphasizes that AI does not simply automate tasks. “To produce something interesting and worthy of preservation in AI, a significant amount of time is necessary,” he explains. “My architectural vocabulary has become much more precise, and my visual sense has undergone an incredible workout, exercising all these muscles which have atrophied a little bit.”
Vien shares this sentiment: “I believe these are incredibly powerful tools for architects and designers. Do I think it’s the sole future of architecture? No, but I see it as a tool and medium that can enrich the long history of instruments architects can use, not only to represent their work but also to generate ideas.”
Andrew Kudless from Hines College of Architecture and Design presents an example from the Urban Resolution series, highlighting how the Stable Diffusion AI model “is unable to focus on constructing a realistic image and instead duplicates features that are prominent in the local latent space,” according to Kudless.
