During the past year, I've been actively investigating the uses of generative AI in architecture and the built environment, and for the past seven months, I've been using AI tools like Midjourney professionally in projects. Here, I'll have the pleasure of writing about the applications of AI in the architectural and construction industries, as well as keeping you up to date on the newest AI news and technology for architects and designers.
Prompt-to-image AI has introduced us to a new paradigm shift in our design workflows. Now we use our language to communicate our design ideas to highly creative algorithms which cannot only visualize our ideas in a matter of seconds, but also help us brainstorm, test different ideas, generate variations of a design, help out with a feasibility study and even assist us in presenting our ideas to the client.
Today AI liberates us from technical complexities and hardships, such as our dependency on high-end hardware specs and lots of advanced 3D modelling and rendering skills, only to let us focus more on the one single important job that we always had and still have, which is problem-solving.
As architects, we are problem-solvers by nature, solving different spatial problems in our built environment and even sometimes tackling non-spatial issues with spatial propositions. However, we can all agree that the majority of our day-to-day time is usually spent on less important tasks that sometimes even distract us from our mission. Now AI is a powerful tool in our hands, not stealing our jobs, but actually giving them back to us where they always belonged. With the power of artificial intelligence, we can position ourselves in the architect’s seat much stronger than before and lead the projects in the most effective and creative ways possible. However, in order to do so, we must learn about this new phenomenon, and it’s my job to help you understand this exciting new world better via this newsletter.
Following are topics that will be covered in the coming weeks and months:
· Language: the most important design tool of the future
· Most important AI tools for architects and designers to know about
· How to design according to a brief using Midjourney?
· How can ChatGPT help in writing prompts for Midjourney?
· What should we expect next from the AI advancements in architecture and design
· Best free online resources to learn about AI and design
· Prompt crafting in Midjourney
· From Sketch to render using Stable Diffusion and Controlnet
· How to use AI in different architecture project stages
· 5 reasons why AI can’t replace architects just yet? (and probably never can)
I look forward to writing about the above topics and many more. I hope this series could be a great starting point to introduce some useful cases of implementing AI in your workflow.
