VIRTUAL MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY
Abstract
As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies increasingly blend in society, the integration of AI into curricula is both a pedagogical necessity and a critical challenge. Students must acquire a level of AI literacy that enables them to operate AI tools in their professional field, as well as critically question the AI’s assumptions, biases, and limitations. Additionally, AI raises questions on sustainability, ethics and legality. Therefore, educational institutes must balance the need to prepare students for a future where AI is omnipresent, and the need to protect the students’ and institute’s integrity. In higher architectural education, design-driven teaching requires such an ‘AI-balance’ for both textual and visual generative AI . This paper shares findings of a Flemish interuniversity panel about the implementation of AI-resilient competencies. The panel consists of academic experts at the intersection of architecture and AI, teaching staff of design studios and theoretical courses, educational support and innovation staff. The findings include a definition of knowledge, skills and attitudes that lay the groundwork for ‘AI-proof’ students, upon which the research team proposed a set of well-defined and practical AI-resilient competencies. The AI-resilient competencies were discussed and tested in an architecture curriculum-building workshop within the Faculty of Design Sciences at the University of Antwerp. Teaching staff members identified key moments within the curriculum to rethink course material and assignments, reflecting on the ‘AI-balance’ throughout the process. This bottom-up approach fosters commitment and includes teaching staff in building a shared, institutional vision on AI in design education, whilst advancing their own AI literacy.
Elien Vissers-Similon is a PhD candidate with the Faculty of Design Sciences, Architecture, at the University of Antwerp, where she aims to lower barriers and democratize the use of emergent digital technologies for architectural designers. Her doctoral work investigates the impact of image-driven generative artificial intelligence models, in education and practice. She studies human-machine interaction, the synergy between traditional and AI-assisted design tools, and critically questions the role of both designer and technology amid digital revolutions.
Layla Van den Berg holds a PhD in Sociology and works as a staff member for educational quality and innovation at the Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp. Her work focuses on supporting curriculum development, enhancing teaching practices, and fostering innovation in higher education. She initiates, coordinates and supports projects on diversity, participation, sustainability, and the integration of AI in education, aiming to create inclusive and future-oriented learning environments.
Johan De Walsche is a professor in Architecture at the University of Antwerp since 2008. His research explores methodologies of practice-based and architectural design research, emphasizing their transformative potential. He leads design-driven, actor-oriented projects within the ISTT studio in both Western and non-Western contexts. Johan is co-editor of ONTO, founding member of ARENA, and serves on CA²RE’s scientific committee. As former head of the architecture programme, he actively contributes to international education boards, conferences, and doctoral juries.