IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION B

Abstract

This study is intended to be a critical analysis of how Generative Artificial Intelligence operates within the architectural design studio, in keeping with broader pedagogical methodologies that are increasingly shifting towards the application of AI to augment human creativity, as opposed to replacing it.The methodology involved conducting a design exercise within an architectural design studio setting, where students were tasked with designing a small living space for individual occupation. The exercise required students to come up with two parallel design ideas, one generated through the application of Artificial Intelligence, and another through their own architectural reasoning and design methodology. The students then had to undertake a comparative evaluation between the two ideas to assess how Generative Artificial Intelligence operates within architectural design. The outcomes show that, while AI is instrumental in expediting the production of spatial configurations and formal variations, the synthetic reasoning of the students is important in attaining coherent functional integration, contextualism, and architectural articulation. The research exercise showed that AI was effective as an exploration tool that could be critiqued and contextualized by the designer. The research also showed that the importance of “prompt literacy” and critique was important in the students’ ability to exercise their creative agency in the design process using the hybrid human-AI design tools. This research, which combined the use of computer generated design and the critique method of design instruction, showed the pedagogical potential of using AI as an effective design collaborator rather than a substitute for the creative abilities of humans. The research also showed the importance of an evolving architectural education paradigm that emphasizes the critical use of AI tools and the importance of the role of the human designer.