'synthetic architecture': the future of AI-generated design

a new wave of ai-generated design

Over the past year, the field of design has seen a dramatic shift with artists and architects alike increasingly adapting innovative technologies to explore and expand the bounds of their creative practices. Perhaps the most sensational innovation has been the wave of AI-powered design programs, kicking off with DALL-E which quickly consolidated its place in the framework of popular culture, taken further by Midjourney from which a blurred but exciting reality emerged, to Stable Diffusion which moreover has made this work open source.

Exploring this emerging wave — which is yet being met with varying optimism/cynicism by creatives — ‘Synthetic Architecture’ is a Midjourney-generated conceptual architectural series that ponders the implications of these technological advancements on the field of architecture. Likening this development to the previous shock created by computer-aided design at the beginning of the 21st-century, the project considers the revolutionary future of AI-generated design.

Organic Symbiotic Houses | all images courtesy the author

Through a series of exalted bright images depicting surreal visualizations of architectural structures enveloped with vegetation or fluid Zaha Hadid-esque undulations, the project considers how these programs which transform text prompts into surreal or hyper-realistic visualizations can make the practice of architectural representation more widely accessible to all those with the power to imagine a concept and articulate it in few simple words.

illustrating ‘Hadidian’ futures

‘Synthetic Architecture’: surreal visualizations

AI-generated art has introduced us to many surreal and imaginative conceptualizations with designers pushing the boundaries of what could be real and what is purely synthetic. Architects and designers have traded out their drawing boards to imagine surreal, symbiotic cities and buildings with vegetation sprouting from their facades, to monumental Zaha Hadid homages with dynamically fluid elevations and hybrid configurations of futuristic materials.

‘But can these tools promise more than a Hadidian future?’ questions designer Syd Drew. ‘When you stay away from popular culture and do other research, you can sail to different event dimensions. For example, you can work with specific values such as a certain coefficients, an obvious style change that can be made on the ground floors, building proportions, etc. But don’t expect that it will give you a finished project or sensitive values. Maybe it’s best to just use it as a WIP sketch, something to get inspired. For now…’

a synthetic architectural visualization of realistic ‘Hadidian’ languages

the output from a prompt including: ‘with a bunch of plants on top of it’

developing technology and practices to create realistic renders

illustrative capabilities of AI-powered design programs

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project info:

name: Synthetic Architecture

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom