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Thu 18 Apr
Seminars and Conferences

Frontiers of Artificial Intelligence in Architecture - Lecture 7 and 8

ACC Lecture Serie 2024 - Limits of architecture. Architecture of limits
Curated by DASP Students / Phd in Architecture. History and Project
Federica Joe Gardella, Giulia Montanaro, Paolo Bianco, Hongye Wu, Federico Madaro, Federica Serra, Saurajeeta Bose, Caterina Juric, Marta Rossi
Coordinated by Professor Mauro Berta

Lecture 07: Daniel Cardoso Llach - Intelligent Artifices? A Critical History of (and New Directions for) Generative Design

Despite the aura of novelty that surrounds artificial intelligence (AI) methods in architecture and design, dreams of autonomous design machines have long populated the imagination of technically inclined architects, designers, and artists — and that of artistically-inclined mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. What do these ambitions tell us about the interplay of technological and cultural understandings of design, and how have they shifted with the recent explosion of data-intensive “generative” computation? In this talk Professor Cardoso Llach will explore the long history of generative design methods and consider some critical issues concerning the recent adoption of machine learning techniques in architectural contexts. Finally, Professor Cardoso Llach will sketch out some new directions for employing these in design, architecture, and construction drawing from recent research at Carnegie Mellon University’s Computational Design Laboratory.

Biography

Daniel Cardoso Llach is Associate Professor of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, where he chairs the graduate program in Computational Design and directs CodeLab, a research and learning laboratory rethinking the role of computation in the design and production of the built environment. He is the author of publications, exhibitions, and technologies critically exploring the nexus of design and computation, including the book Builders of the Vision: Software and the Imagination of Design, a history of computer-aided design (CAD) that identifies and documents technological theories of design emerging from postwar government-funded research projects at MIT, and reflects critically on their architectural repercussions. His new book, Designing the Computational Image, Imagining Computational Design, co-edited with Theodora Vardouli, draws from historical and contemporary materials to trace the emergence of computational design ideas and practices across a broader landscape of institutions in the US, the UK, and Canada.

Lecture 07: Freddy Fortich - How is MVRDV Striving to Harness AI within the Design Process?

The lecture will delve into MVRDV as a data-driven design practice, from its historical foundations to MVRDV NEXT’s current research on AI. Fortich will unfold the current applications of image-based MVRDV AI across their various design stages; including brainstorming, reference research, conceptualization, collage design, massing, materialization, and rendering. Finally, the firm’s current innovation in AI customization will be unveiled.

Biography

Fredy Fortich is an Architect and Engineer, specializing in computational design: BIM coordination, performance-based design, generative design, and machine learning methods. He holds an MSc in Building Technology from TU Delft and a Master of Architecture from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. He is a Technical Architect, serving simultaneously as BIM Manager at MVRDV’s French Studio as well as AI Researcher on Diffusion Models for MVRDV NEXT.