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>>Non-places<<

Artificial, Virtual, Digital: Architecture in hypermodern times

Video presentation: https://youtu.be/itKg6Z4v4pc

Course abstract:

This studio will explore the possibility of using Artificial intelligent as a design tool to explore the formal conditions of the Non-place. Non-place is a  neologism coined by the French anthropologist Marc Augé to refer to anthropological spaces of transience where human beings remain anonymous, and that do not hold enough significance to be regarded as "places" in their anthropological definition.

"AI" is becoming a prominent premise on the current architectural debate. The aim is to explore the possibilities of implementing AI as a valid tool to produce disciplinary knowledge, in this case in a design methodology in an academic environment. There were some initial statements that we wanted to develop:

>AI as a tool: AI is becoming a relevant topic in the current architectural debate. It appeared as a powerful tool to test arguments on a quick visual manner. Most of the platforms at our disposal are image generation tools that takes inputs through text prompts and parameters, and uses a Machine Learning (ML) algorithm trained on a large amount of image data to produce unique images. Thus, in the “creativity/production” equation, quantity and computational speed are becoming important factors. Even further, assuming the fact that our imagination is 95% built out of the images we have archived in our memory, one could argue that counting with an immense archive or endless amount of images would be a beneficial scenario in a creative environment. The challenge here is how to navigate between “algorithm driven mash-up images” and “unconscious design knowledge”, which requires certain training.

>AI-loose authorship: There is a historical position in which a suspended consciousness state of mind has been seen as a fertile condition for creativity.

"The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters", can be viewed as Goya’s personal manifesto; many observers believe that Goya intended to depict himself asleep amidst his drawing tools, his reason dulled by slumber, bedeviled by creatures that prowl in the dark. Such creatures that appear in this work are often associated in Spanish folk tradition with mystery and evil; the owls surrounding Goya may be symbols of folly, and the swarming bats may symbolize ignorance.

There have been many examples in design history where control was given away looking for novelty.  From painting to writing, from conceptual art to architecture, there have been many successful examples where authorship was kept in hold for a while, avoiding linear thinking and aiming for non-expected original outputs. 

Using AI one has the feeling of partial loss of control over the process and results. It’s a kind of coauthoring that we would like to explore. 

>AI Irrational Knowledge. Dali’s paintings title looks like the perfect prompt for AI but that’s only evidence of the methodology that he is implementing.

The virtue of that design approach lies in the capability of articulating a disciplinary methodology and the critical understanding of the results. Therefore, the Paranoid Critical Method of Salvador Dali began by the simple act of placing incongruent objects of characters in a composition, but only that is irrelevant. It became interesting and we asked 2 questions: What’s the idea behind that unconscious design driven state? And How do we evaluate de result?

Regarding the first question Salvador Dali defines as “irrational knowledge” based on a “delirium of interpretation”. The technique consists of the artist invoking a paranoid state (fear that the self is being manipulated, targeted or controlled by others). The result is a deconstruction of the psychological concept of identity, such that subjectivity becomes the primary aspect of the artwork.

Course methodology:

This course will be an Advanced Architectural Design studio which examines the connection between conceptual understanding of design and form generation through digital design techniques. Essential knowledge will be acquired by software modeling and critical current discourse on the discipline. Students will be instructed in theory and simultaneously they will be equipped with digital techniques of design and representation.

Our premise is that Architecture is a formal discipline and based on that statement the course will be divide in three blocks. Each of them will last four weeks and it will contain theory and a design tasks. These three design tasks will reflect over three main levels of understanding: conceptual, procedural and practical; each of them connected to a canonical concept of our discipline.

During the semester, the students will be working on these three design tasks.

- BLOCK 1. CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE. ABSTRACTING LOCAL MORPHOLOGIES. A TOPOLOGICAL PROBLEM 

Students will formulate associative arguments using Artificial intelligent as a design tool. A critical analysis of the result is expected because this transdisciplinary approach will have to formulate  new formal conditions, new coherencies and new formal aesthetics in architecture.

- BLOCK 2. PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE. CREATING A NEW URBAN TISSUE. AI as a speculative tool.

Students will have to do research to identify and model architectural conditions. There will be a problem of abstraction vs literality; how much abstraction is needed in order to read the different morphologies as geometries without reducing too much their specific qualities.

- BLOCK 3. PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE. THE DEFINITION OF SEMANTICS. 

From conceptual to disciplinary objects. Students will investigate on the qualities that give meaning to the diagrammatic design such as materiality and contextual conditions. The implementation of a urban model into a segment of The Line project in Saudi Arabia will be the final task.

Lehrveranstaltungsprüfung gemäß § 6 Satzungsteil, Studienrechtliche Bestimmungen.

Wird im Rahmen der ersten Lehrveranstaltung besprochen.

Informationen zur Anmeldung zu den Entwurfsstudio Lehrveranstaltungen finden Sie unter: https://www.uibk.ac.at/fakultaeten-servicestelle/standorte/technikerstrasse/studium.html/