What is AI? And why has it become such a hot topic in architectural design circles? This lecture offers an introduction to AI for architects, drawing upon material from the recently published book, Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and the soon to be published, Machine Hallucinations: Architecture and Artificial Intelligence. Illustrated with some of exquisite examples of the latest AI generated design work, the lecture explains why artificial intelligence is about to transform the profession of architecture.
Neil Leach is a professor at FIU, Tongji and EGS. He has previously taught at other leading institutions, including the AA, Harvard GSD, Columbia GSAPP, Cornell, SCI-Arc, IaaC and DIA. He is a co-founder of DigitalFUTURES, an academician in the Academy of Europe, and the recipient of two NASA research fellowships exploring 3D print technologies for the Moon and Mars. He has published 40 books on architectural theory and digital design including: L B Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books (MIT, 1988), Rethinking Architecture (Routledge, 1997), The Anaesthetics of Architecture (MIT, 1999), Architecture and Revolution (Routledge, 1999). Designing for a Digital World (Wiley, 2002), Digital Tectonics (Wiley, 2004), Camouflage (MIT, 2006), Digital Cities (Wiley, 2009), Space Architecture (Wiley, 2014), Swarm Intelligence (TongjiUP, 2017), Computational Design (TongjiUP, 2017), Digital Fabrication (TongjiUP, 2017), Swarm Intelligence (TongjiUP, 2017), 3D Printed Body Architecture (Wiley, 2017), Architectural Intelligence (Springer, 2020) and Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction to AI for Architects (Bloomsbury, 2022). Machine Hallucinations: Architecture and Artificial Intelligence (Wiley) will be published in May 2022. He is currently working on The Death of the Architect: The Demise of the Architectural Profession in the Age of AI, (Bloomsbury, 2023) and Interactive Futures (TongjiUP, 2022).
