VIRTUAL New Schools of Thought
Abstract
The integration of speculative design and generative AI tools into architectural education as a means to stimulate innovative and critical thinking, challenges traditional paradigms and encourages students to critically engage with new methodologies. This paper introduces an innovative framework for an architectural design course that encourages a critical exploration of informal memory. Tasked with envisioning a “museum for informal memory,” students are prompted to think beyond conventional museum design, examining how architecture can embody overlooked personal and subaltern cultural narratives. Through a series of speculative assignments, students redefine the museum’s role in representing informal memories, connecting their work to broader questions of identity and collective experience. One key assignment leverages GenAI tools to design a symbolic souvenir that encapsulates each student’s conceptual approach to the museum. By concretizing abstract ideas through AI-supported design, students engage with new methodologies that challenge and expand traditional architectural models. This practice not only encourages critical thinking but also serves as a checkpoint for students to reflect on their evolving design ideas. The outcomes of this case study demonstrate that speculative, AI-driven approaches in architectural education can foster deep engagement with issues of memory, technology, culture, and representation. The framework aligns with calls for more inclusive and critical educational methodologies in contemporary design, suggesting that AI-supported assignments can help students critically reimagine architectural roles in capturing diverse narratives in society.
Avrokómi Zavitsánou is an adjunct Lecturer at the University of Thessaly, Department of Architecture. She is an architect, and also holds a degree in Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art from the Technological Educational Institute of Athens. She also holds a Master’s degree in Cultural Management from Panteion University and a PhD from the Department of Architecture at the University of Thessaly.
Themistoklis Lekkas graduated from University of Thessaly, Department of Architecture in 2017, and in 2021 completed his post-graduate studies in the University of Thessaloniki, Department of Architecture, entitled ”Advanced Design: Innovation and Transdisciplinarity in Design”. Since 2024 he is a PhD Candidate at the University of Thessaly, Department of Architecture. He is also a researcher at the Laboratory of Environmental Communication and Audiovisual Documentation, University of Thessaly. His interests focus on the design of experiences and the exploration of surrealistic elements in architecture by utilizing digital media and AI techniques.
Magdalini Grigoriadou is a PhD architect (UPM, Spain, 2014) exploring the intersection of space, time, and the human body in architectural imagination. Her research investigates the impact of digital technologies on embodied experiences and the design of personalized and adaptable spaces. Through projects like “Sparágmata” (Mexico, 2017) “Disembody” (Greece, 2021) and “Hybrid Postbodies” (2022) she delves into themes of nostalgia, fragmentation, and the emergence of embodied hybrid digital-physical spaces. By employing virtual environments and performance, she challenges traditional notions of space and architecture, advocating for a more embodied, dynamic, and vibrant approach to spatial experience.