In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved into an exceptionally powerful tool, revolutionising numerous fields, including architecture.
In the field of architecture, AI simplifies tasks through advanced algorithms: it automates floor plan drafting, analyses structural stability, and optimises spatial solutions. Integrated into BIM software, AI identifies design conflicts already in the planning phase and, through processing large datasets from BIM models, optimises costs, timelines, and material usage. It also enables a thorough analysis of site data, helping architects adapt projects to environmental factors such as sunlight, wind conditions, and energy efficiency.

Additionally, AI offers new opportunities for experimentation with forms, materials, and concepts. Advanced simulations allow architects to predict structural behaviour under different conditions, facilitating bold explorations of complex geometries and innovative solutions. This makes architectural design more efficient, sustainable, and tailored to user needs while giving architects more time for creative work and strategic thinking.
The key questions that arise are how to integrate AI into architectural practice to enable even more innovative solutions and increase design efficiency while maintaining architecture’s unique creative language. How can we avoid the risk of generic outcomes and preserve the diversity of design expressions and cultural identity? Lastly, what are the philosophical and ethical concerns of using AI.

The debate will highlight three key areas where AI enables new approaches in architecture:

1. AI in Early Architectural Planning and Site Analysis
The first question addresses the role of AI algorithms in site analysis and urban planning. The focus will be on showcasing approaches facilitated by modern AI systems––from recognizing environmental conditions (nearby and distant elements, orientation, slope) to generating design solutions that are both functional and innovative. The key question is how algorithmic methods assist in situating the observed area within a broader spatial and contextual framework. Here, parallels can be drawn with Giorgio Parisi’s work In a Flight of Starlings, where recognising and responding to neighbouring components is reflected in dynamic systems such as flocks of birds. Examples of AI applications in architecture include parametric design to optimize form and functionality, as well as machine learning models for spatial data analysis, enabling advanced interpretation of site and urban context.

2. AI’s Role in Understanding and Contextualizing Architectural Elements
The second question focuses on AI techniques for recognizing individual architectural elements (e.g., facades, spaces, materials) and understanding their role in relation to the building itself and its surroundings. Emphasis will be placed on the distinction between recognition and true understanding of architecture. John Searle, in his Chinese Room analogy, critiques AI’s limitations in achieving genuine understanding. The discussion will explore how AI, in collaboration with the architect, transcends mere identification and combination of architectural elements. In this context, AI functions as a tool for recognition, analysis, and suggestion, while the architect remains the primary interpreter, embedding meaning, context, and creative vision into architectural work. Thus, a collaboration between AI and the architect emerges, where technology enhances the process, but the architect ultimately guides the final design.

3. Generative Techniques in Architectural Design
The third question examines the role of generative techniques in architectural design. Generative algorithms enable the exploration of solutions by meeting predefined criteria. This process often leads the architect to reconsider the relevance of initial criteria and opens up unforeseen, innovative possibilities. Judea Pearl, in The Book of Why, highlights the importance of questioning systems and criteria, as well as the role of causal reasoning, in achieving optimal solutions––concepts that are also fundamental in generative design. By challenging initial assumptions, architects can uncover novel design pathways that were previously unimagined.

Through these three areas, the debate will explore how AI, as a tool for analysis, recognition, and generative design, fosters new approaches in architecture while maintaining the architect’s pivotal role as a creative decision-maker.