Aguascalientes, Ags., October 2, 2024.— The dean of the School of Architecture at the Universidad Panamericana AguascalientesUniversidad Panamericana , Luis Arturo Méndez Alba, M.A., was invited by the University of Sinú in the city of Montería, Córdoba, Colombia, to participate in the “Artificial Intelligence in Design” Forum, where he delivered a keynote address on the use of artificial intelligence in the professional practice of architecture as well as its integration into education.
The forum was also attended by representatives from Javeriana University in Colombia, La Salle University in Mexico City, and the Pontifical University of Campinas in Brazil, among others.
In addition to the lecture, the University of Sinú took advantage of our dean of the School of Architecture’s visit to have him provide consulting services to assess the relevance of their new master’s program as well as the current structure of their bachelor’s program.
Artificial Intelligence in Architecture
When asked about the role artificial intelligence plays in the training of architects today, Professor Méndez notes: “Artificial intelligence has made a strong impact on architecture through image-generation tools; however, it represents a new methodological paradigm. AI in architecture should be viewed as just another tool, much like when parallel rules or the so-called Leroy lettering sets emerged many years ago. The way AI generates forms involves a different system in which the systems work with ChatGPT-style prompts, which leads to unpredictable results. The strategy consists, on the one hand, of knowing how to generate the appropriate prompts and instructions to achieve a predictable result, as well as knowing where these new tools can be integrated into the design methodology.”
This highly relevant topic is nothing new to our School of Architecture, which has long recognized the importance of incorporating it into its activities. In February of this year, Luis Arturo Méndez participated in a roundtable discussion on the topic, and in May, as part of the biannual “Arquitópicos” event, a conference on artificial intelligence was held.
An important matter
Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly integrated into our daily lives, and those who master it as a tool in architecture will be able to deliver faster, more professional results that are much better aligned with market demands.“AI in architecture offers opportunities to improve communication with clients and meet their needs more quickly,”explains Luis Arturo.
“It can be used to generate architectural concepts for exteriors and interiors based on specifications. Architectural concepts can be produced very quickly to streamline communication with the client. The systems make it possible to generate a wide range of design options at high speed based on specific parameters—a task that would take a team a long time to complete.”
What's Next
Following this experience, the dean of the School of Architecture notes that the school is currently negotiating collaboration agreements with both the University of Sinú and the Pontifical University of Campinas in Brazil. “From the latter university,” he says, “we will welcome a professor who will teach urban planning courses during the 2025 International Summer Program.”
Similarly, the School of Architecture will seek to integrate AI platforms and systems into both professional practice and classroom instruction; to this end, we will soon launch a course on Artificial Intelligence in Architecture for all our faculty members as well as for the prestigious firm MVE+Partners based in the United States.
