Exploring Architecture Through the Lens of Visual AI: A Year 10 Project
By Ella Camporeale, Curriculum Leader for Art, Design and Digital Technologies, Westminster School, South Austrailia.
In the evolving landscape of modern arts and technologies education, innovative pedagogical approaches are essential to cultivate students' creativity and technological literacy. In a Year 10 Architecture class, we embarked on a project that integrated architectural studies with the capabilities of Visual Artificial Intelligence (AI). The project brief tasked students with delving into the works of influential modernist or postmodernist architects, followed by leveraging Visual AI platforms to generate design concepts for a shipping container redevelopment. This interdisciplinary endeavour aimed to not only deepen students' understanding of architectural principles but also to explore the transformative potential of AI in the design process.
The Inquiry Process
The first phase of the task involved students working in pairs to conduct an in-depth inquiry into a selected modernist or postmodernist architect. This foundational research provided the students with a solid understanding of architectural styles, principles, and the nuanced approaches of their chosen architects. Students were tasked with presenting their inquiry in a multimodal format, with some choosing to harness AI using CapCut in the production of a video. Armed with this knowledge, students transitioned to the realm of AI-powered ideation for their shipping container projects.
Navigating Visual AI
To initiate the exploration, students were tasked with using various AI platforms to generate design ideas. The process began with recording their input, specifying the program or app used, and documenting prompts and inputs such as applied filters. The students' prompts were a fusion of building types, architectural styles, and contextual details like site and materials inspired by their chosen architect or architectural movement.
After input, the Visual AI platforms produced a range of diverse and often unexpected outputs. The second step involved iteration through prompting and capturing these outputs through screenshots, providing a visual representation of the AI-generated design options.
Analysing the Fusion of Creativity and Technology
The analysis phase delved into the details of the process and outputs. Students reflected on the success of their prompting strategies, evaluating the necessity of specific details for successful outcomes. The key questions guiding their reflection included:
1. What Did You Need to Include in Your Prompting Process for Successful Outcomes?
The students discovered that a balance between specificity and openness in their prompts yielded the best results. Including architecturally relevant details while allowing room for AI interpretation sparked creativity.
2. Was the Software Successful? Why or Why Not?
The exploration revealed that the success of the Visual AI software depended on the clarity and relevance of the prompts. When prompts were precise and aligned with architectural principles, the software delivered the desired outcomes. Limitations were noted in the AI’s knowledge of architectural works.
3. How Could the Idea be Included in Your Project?
When integrating the AI-generated concepts into their shipping container designs, some students chose to incorporate the AI-generated ideas directly, while others drew inspiration from the visualisations and adapted the styles to suit their design narratives. Students could return to the concept design process, then upload sketch design or images of mock digital models to an AI platform to explore outputs based on their own designs supported by text prompts. Students then began modelling their designs in SketchUp and visualising using real-time rendering in Lumion.
Student A work sample – Ski Lodge sketch and text prompt in NewArc.ai
Student B work sample – Bouldering Centre with influences of Le Corbusier:
Showcasing AI in Architectural Design
To broaden their perspective, students explored examples of architects, artists, or designers who leverage AI for architectural imagery. Several AI practitioners identified demonstrated diverse processes and applications, contributing to the students' understanding of the evolving intersection between AI and architecture.
Gateway to Future Possibilities
The Year 10 Architecture class project underscored the transformative potential of blending traditional education with modern technology. Visual AI emerged not only as a tool for generating design ideas but also as a catalyst for pushing creative boundaries. Upon conclusion of the task, students responded to a survey where 100% stated that before undertaking the task, they had not used visual AI in their schoolwork. After undertaking the task, 75% of students said they were more likely to use visual AI in future school assignments. By integrating AI into the design process, students discovered how the fusion of their own ideation and emerging technologies can propel the evolution of design thinking. All students agreed the task provided them with better understanding of generative AI options and that the use of AI was helpful in the ideation of their architectural project.
Student C work sample – Camping Shelter on Lake Gairdner with influences of Charles Jencks:
Ella Camporeale is an experienced technologies educator, passionate about innovation, emerging tech, sustainable design and design-led thinking. Her areas of focus are architectural, graphic and immersive design. Having a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning and Masters in Architecture, Ella is embarking on higher degree research exploring the convergence of emerging technologies and architecture in high school education.
