hassan ragab’s ‘the cities we build’ interpolates old and new
Digital artist and computation designer Hassan Ragab undertakes a visual investigation between the old and new using Stable Diffusion 2 for his new AI-generated series, ‘The Cities we Build’. Envisioning a future where ‘novel’ contemporary architecture has stood the test of time, the renderings reveal mundane urban landscapes overtaken by surreal, colossal structures enlivening the streets with bold, undulating forms and splashes of vibrancy.
Through this, the designer explores notions of novelty, beauty, and functionality of architecture of the digital age, questioning whether the imaginative AI-generated speculations of today — favoring monumental form over function — would ever withstand.
all images by Hassan Ragab
questioning the longevity of contemporary architecture
With ‘The Cities we Build’, Hassan Ragab questions: ‘Will the cities that we are building stand the test of time? Are we eluded by the fantasy of ‘novelty’, confusing it with ‘beauty’? If our metropolises are over-saturated and polluted due to our short sightseeing or how little we were informed, how does that speak to our current urban and architectural practices?’
Materializing these musings, the designer utilizes the power of AI design tools to illustrate visual contradictions within our built environment — such as deconstructed modules caught between late 19th-century blocks — and their potential future.
Hassan Ragab undertakes a visual investigation between the old and new
These rapid advancements in architectural design are also only being accelerated with the integration of artificial intelligence into the field. Undisputedly, such tools hold an incredible ability to reiterate our documented visual history in an unprecedented timeframe, thus crowning us with some sort of wisdom before our physical endeavors that could only be tested by age. ‘We might be headed towards the ‘cliché’ phase much faster than our predecessors,’ Hassan Ragab continues.
monumental and surreal architecture interweaves across mundane urban contexts
contemporary, futuristic structures juxtaposed with historical architecture
‘The Cities we Build’ envisions a future where ‘novel’ architecture of today has stood the test of time
project info:
name: The Cities we Build
designer: Hassan Ragab
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edited by: ravail khan | designboom
