Pedagogy 2025

Abstract

The accelerating evolution of Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming how architects learn, think, and design. Within architectural education, AI challenges the long-cherished traditional studio model that relies on iterative, human-centered exploration. This paper contends that design studio pedagogy needs to adapt by integrating AI while preserving its core values of creativity, critical thinking, and spatial reasoning. It argues that the future of studio education must be neither nostalgic (resistive) nor technocentric (overzealous embrace) but balanced, where human imagination remains at the center of intelligent systems. Drawing on emerging practices and preliminary classroom observations of students’ engagement with AI-assisted workflows, such as generative design, image synthesis, VR, AR, and immersive environments, the study highlights how AI has the potential to enhance and accelerate design exploration yet may also gradually erode notions of individuality, ethical engagement, and reflection. The paper applies a scenario analysis approach to outline three plausible future trajectories for AI in architectural education: optimistic, pessimistic, and preferred, to speculate about their implications on architectural studio pedagogy. Building on this analysis, the paper proposes a conceptual Human-in-the-Loop Studio HITL Framework to guide balanced adaptation. The framework emphasizes three interrelated pillars: (a) AI literacy and ethical awareness to empower students as critical co-creators; (b) spatial and tactile reasoning to sustain embodied design intelligence; and (c) faculty upskilling and curricular reform to align studio pedagogy with emerging design methodologies. Ultimately, the paper advocates for a redefined pedagogical framework where AI augments rather than replaces human creativity, preserving architectural education’s imaginative, reflective, and human dimensions.