Architecture Students and AI: Exploring Applications and Perceptions in the Class

Applications of Artificial Intelligence AI are increasingly significant for designers across various fields, with a particular emphasis on architectural design. These applications offer support by providing relevant data and suggesting diverse design ideas. This study explores the applications of AI in the architectural computational design process, employing a mixed-review approach that combines bibliometric analysis and systematic review. The objective is to study the uncovered research area figured from the review by clarifying the primary functions of AI in all architectural design stages, as well as the associated opportunities and challenges . This study examines the application scale, methodologies, and tools of AI in architectural design. Then, it conducts a comprehensive survey of commonly used AI tools, analyzing and comparing them based on phase classification, deployment classification, scale of application, and their integration with BIM, VR, and parametric design Additionally, the study proposes an AI-powered Architectural Computational Design Process (AI-ACD), a workflow designed to aid architects in effectively incorporating AI technologies into various stages of computational architectural design processes. Afterwords the study also introduces a classification of commonly used AI tools and maps them to specific design tasks within the (AI-ACD) workflow. Multiple design scenarios and a set of core integration principles are proposed to demonstrate how AI engagement can be tailored to different levels of use and project contexts. Finally, the study presents a matrix that maps each core integration principle to the five key design stages The study demonstrates how AI-ACD, an AI-assisted workflow, enhances the architectural design process through visualization, data analysis, and optimization tools, adaptable to architecture, urban design, and heritage, ultimately boosting creativity, efficiency, and design quality.

In this paper, we describe the influence that simulation tools can potentially have on architecture students’ design process. In order to understand the simulation usage in the educational context, we first reviewed the previous uses of technological tools in architectural design. In the experiment, students of South Korea performed design tasks guided by either a simulation tool or a studio instructor. The given task also differed by its nature, optimization- vs. concept-driven. As a result, we found that the simulation provided a creative-prone environment to the students and increased their attention to detail.

Glass with a thickness of less than 2.0 mm can be defined as a thin glass or with a thickness of less than 0.5 mm even as ultra-light. Thin glass requires for curved surfaces in order to gain structural stiffness in static use. The geometry is based on the known theory of developable surfaces. Such Façades may therefore be created from cold bent or curved laminated thin glass layers. In the past semester a seminar with architectural students were held and three projects of this seminar are worth to be presented to the public for demonstration of possibilities for use of thin glass. The definition of a seminar project for students was a connection of a big housing area with the nearby stop of the local tram which is separated by a railway line. Two possibilities for the pedestrian are given to pass the railroad. The first one is a passage underground below the railroad and the second one is a bridge above the railway line. This paper contents a study of architectural design made by students. Two projects which will be presented in this paper focuses on the design of the entrance building of a passage underground and the third project is a design of a pedestrian bridge above the railroad. Beside the architectural design a structural analysis was done to support the design process such as with ranges of possible bending radii for the curved thin glass elements and to guarantee the feasibility of the design

This study explored the use of AI technology in architectural design, with a particular focus on AI design tools and their impact on the AEC industry in Pakistan. This study explored how AI technology variations. This research studied the impact of AI technology on traditional design workflows, productivity enhancement, and the transformational influence of AI on decision-making processes of design professionals in Pakistan. This research examined a variety of AI design tools, such as generative design, machine learning, and parametric modeling, to assess the AI technology relevance in optimization of spatial layout, structural analysis, and sustainable design in the Pakistani context. This research considered the time and cost efficiency, as well as the enhancement of creativity and overall design quality, the research evaluated the AI construction tools impact on the design process. The research findings emphasized the AI tools impact on design process efficiency, decreasing idle time, and empowering architects to assess numerous design options in a short time. The study also examined the specific AI tools challenges in the AEC Pakistan sector: inadequate tech infrastructure, learning challenges, workflow assimilation, and design originality loss. The research finally perceived the architectural practice AI technology on integration as a construction industry revolution and highlighted the importance of local industry dynamics. Such insights were helpful in guiding Pakistani AEC professionals in appreciating the value of AI technology and its effective utilization.

There is a growing interest in using generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools in the fashion industry. Even though there is a research gap on the possibilities of new AI image-generation tools for mood board design, this study evaluates the efficiency of one such GAI tool, Dream Lab AI, in mood board development. Three steps were required to conduct the research: transforming an initial notion into clear textual design prompts, utilizing generative artificial intelligence technologies to facilitate concept creation, and validating the resulting mood indicate through analysis using mood board principles. The outcomes show how successful Dream Lab AI is and show that by fully utilizing the controllability of various mood board design concepts, this tool can speed up the design process for designers. Dream Lab AI has the potential to reduce time, labour, and cost as well as facilitating a sustainable approach in mood board fashion design process. The study observes that inadequate data training and prompt accuracy of GAI in using mood board design may have an impact on the feasibility of the mood board designs produced and that designs may not be compatible with real-world mood board design. The study suggests better proper data training and interactive prompt implementation in AI tools can help the designer to develop mood boards effectively.

“What's the brief?” is an everyday question within the graphic design process. Moreover, the concept and importance of a design brief is overtly understood well beyond design practice itself—especially among stakeholders who work with designers and clients who commission design services. Indeed, a design brief is often an assumed and expected physical or metaphoric artefact for guiding the creative process. When a brief is lacking, incomplete or unclear, it can render an already ambiguous graphic design process and discipline even more fraught with misinterpretation. Nevertheless, even in wider design discourse, there appears to be little research on design briefs and the briefing process (Jones and Askland; Paton and Dorst). It seems astonishing that, even in Peter Phillips’s 2014 edition of Creating the Perfect Design Brief, he feels compelled to comment that “there are still no books available about design briefs” and that the topic is only “vaguely” covered within design education (21). While Phillips’s assertion is debatable if one draws purely from online vernacular sources or professional guides, it is supported by the lack of scholarly attention paid to the design brief. Graphic design briefs are often mentioned within design books, journals, and online sources. However, this article argues that the format, function and use of such briefs are largely assumed and rarely identified and studied. Even within the broader field of design research, the tendency appears to be to default to “the design brief” as an assumed shorthand, supporting Phillips’s argument about the nebulous nature of the topic. As this article contextualises, this is further problematised by insufficient attention cast on graphic design itself as a specific discipline. This article emerges from a wider, multi-stage creative practice study into graphic design practice, that used experimental performative design research methods to investigate graphic designers’ professional relationships with stakeholders (Meron, Strangely). The article engages with specific outcomes from that study that relate to the design brief. The article also explores existing literature and research and argues for academics, the design industry, and educationalists, to focus closer attention on the design brief. It concludes by suggesting that experimental and collaborative design methods offers potential for future research into the design brief. Contextualising the Design Brief It is critical to differentiate the graphic design brief from the operational briefs of architectural design (Blyth and Worthington; Khan) or those used in technical practices such as software development or IT systems design, which have extensive industry-formalised briefing practices and models such as the waterfall system (Petersen et al.) or more modern processes such as Agile (Martin). Software development and other technical design briefs are necessarily more formulaically structured than graphic design briefs. Their requirements are generally empirically and mechanistically located, and often mission-critical. In contrast, the conceptual nature of creative briefs in graphic design creates the potential for them to be arbitrarily interpreted. Even in wider design discourse, there appears to be little consistency about the form that a brief takes. Some sources indicate that a brief only requires one page (Elebute; Nov and Jones) or even a single line of text (Jones and Askland). At other times briefs are described as complex, high-level documents embedded within processes which designers respond to with the aim of producing end products to satisfy clients’ requirements (Ambrose; Patterson and Saville). Ashby and Johnson (40) refer to the design brief as a “solution neutral” statement, the aim being to avoid preconceptions or the narrowing of the creative possibilities of a project. Others describe a consultative (Walsh), collaborative and stakeholder-inclusive process (Phillips). The Scholarly Brief Within scholarly design research, briefs inevitably manifest as an assumed artefact or process within each project; but the reason for their use or antecedents for chosen formats are rarely addressed. For example, in “Creativity in the Design Process” (Dorst and Cross) some elements of the design brief are described. The authors also describe at what stage of the investigation the brief is introduced and present a partial example of the brief. However, there is no explanation of the form of the brief or the reasons behind it. They simply describe it as being typical for the design medium, adding that its use was considered a critical part of addressing the design problem. In a separate study within advertising (Johar et al.), researchers even admit that the omission of crucial elements from the brief—normally present in professional practice—had a detrimental effect on their results. Such examples indicate the importance of briefs for the design process, yet further illustrating the omission of direct engagement with the brief within the research design, methodology, and methods. One exception comes from a study amongst business students (Sadowska and Laffy) that used the design brief as a pedagogical tool and indicates that interaction with, and changes to, elements of a design brief impact the overall learning process of participants, with the brief functioning as a trigger for that process. Such acknowledgement of the agency of a design brief affirms its importance for professional designers (Koslow et al.; Phillips). This use of a brief as a research device informed my use of it as a reflective and motivational conduit when studying graphic designers’ perceptions of stakeholders, and this will be discussed shortly. The Professional Brief Professionally, the brief is a key method of communication between designers and stakeholders, serving numerous functions including: outlining creative requirements, audience, and project scope; confirming project requirements; and assigning and documenting roles, procedures, methods, and approval processes. The format of design briefs varies from complex multi-page procedural documents (Patterson and Saville; Ambrose) produced by marketing departments and sent to graphic design agencies, to simple statements (Jones and Askland; Elebute) from small to medium-sized businesses. These can be described as the initial proposition of the design brief, with the following interactions comprising the ongoing briefing process. However, research points to many concerns about the lack of adequate briefing information (Koslow, Sasser and Riordan). It has been noted (Murray) that, despite its centrality to graphic design, the briefing process rarely lives up to designers’ expectations or requirements, with the approach itself often haphazard. This reinforces the necessarily adaptive, flexible, and compromise-requiring nature of professional graphic design practice, referred to by design researchers (Cross; Paton and Dorst). However, rather than lauding these adaptive and flexible designer abilities as design attributes, such traits are often perceived by professional practitioners as unequal (Benson and Dresdow), having evolved by the imposition by stakeholders, rather than being embraced by graphic designers as positive designer skill-sets. The Indeterminate Brief With insufficient attention cast on graphic design as a specific scholarly discipline (Walker; Jacobs; Heller, Education), there is even less research on the briefing process within graphic design practice (Cumming). Literature from professional practice on the creation and function of graphic design briefs is often formulaic (Phillips) and fractured. It spans professional design bodies, to templates from mass-market printers (Kwik Kopy), to marketing-driven and brand-development approaches, in-house style guides, and instructional YouTube videos (David). A particularly clear summary comes from Britain’s Design Council. This example describes the importance of a good design brief, its requirements, and carries a broad checklist that includes the company background, project aims, and target audience. It even includes stylistic tips such as “don’t be afraid to use emotive language in a brief if you think it will generate a shared passion about the project” (Design Council). From a subjective perspective, these sources appear to contain sensible professional advice. However, with little scholarly research on the topic, how can we know that, for example, using emotive language best informs the design process? Why might this be helpful and desirable (or otherwise) for designers? These varied approaches highlight the indeterminate treatment of the design brief. Nevertheless, the very existence of such diverse methods communicates a pattern of acknowledgement of the criticality of the brief, as well as the desire, by professional bodies, commentators, and suppliers, to ensure that both designers and stakeholders engage effectively with the briefing process. Thus, with such a pedagogic gap in graphic design discourse, scholarly research into the design brief has the potential to inform vernacular and formal educational resources. Researching the Design Brief The research study from which this article emerges (Meron, Strangely) yielded outcomes from face-to-face interviews with eleven (deidentified) graphic designers about their perceptions of design practice, with particular regard to their professional relationships with other creative stakeholders. The study also surveyed online discussions from graphic design forums and blog posts. This first stage of research uncovered feelings of lacking organisational gravitas, creative ownership, professional confidence, and design legitimacy among the designers in relation to stakeholders. A significant causal factor pointed to practitioners’ perceptions of lacking direct access to and involvement with key sources of creative inspiration and information; one

ABSTRACTViews of creativity highlight the importance of incubation or the significance of sketching as a means of seeing emergent properties. Both views put design students at a disadvantage. This study investigates the strengths and weaknesses of an alternative approach to design education, in which students were asked to develop a design idea through conceptual diagrams. This study investigates how conceptual diagrams might help architectural students to see the relationships between concepts and space and coordinate their dual development through conceptual diagrams. The study presents the development of the ideas of 13 second-year architectural students. Students' logbooks, together with their midterm and final review presentations, were studied to determine whether students drew any conceptual diagrams, whether they were instrumental in spatial organization, and how they introduced changes during the design process. The findings showed that this particular design education approach helped students start the design process and stay focused throughout the design process.

Research to improve aspects of architectural design education produced a collection of research-supported best practices and these lessons need integration into the studio environment. Design instructors must innovate, but in ways that allow previous result analysis. Action Research (AR) is seen as a valuable asset for providing an opportunity for systematic documentation and reflection of tested variables. This paper presents an AR-enriched architectural design studio teaching experience delivered to third year Architecture and Urban Design students and devised to support individual design process development of students, framed by bioclimatic and sustainable design of school buildings. A 5-year AR project sought to identify (1) the points where undergraduate architecture students “got stuck” during design development; (2) why they had difficulties to fully understand and integrate sustainability concepts into their proposals; and (3) which contents and approaches could help them to overcome design blocks and produce sustainability responsive quality designs. Our research involved 150 students while taking the studio between 2013 and 2018. As a design process takes time to be consolidated and assimilated, positive response was clearer in relation to students’ interest, behavior and demonstration of understanding of the body of knowledge. Significantly improved student design outcomes were not yet confirmed. However, our findings validate AR to improve a design studio setting through accumulated learning by instructors and detailed documentation and systematic analysis of the effects of a collection of approaches, tools and protocols could be applied to independent analysis to increase the quality of architectural design with sustainability in mind.

In higher education research, computer and information technologies are getting increased consideration and attention. These technologies can be integrated into the design education through taking into account a scaffolding mechanism, which will support activities of teaching/learning in a distributed environment. This research presents a digital-based scaffolding geographic information systems (GIS) teaching/learning strategy to support architecture, urban and landscape design undergraduate students’ spatial planning in a distributed design environment, especially for suitable site selection of rural buildings as an approach in higher education research. The aim of this work is to investigate the measurement and verification of the strategy proposed, which would support architecture, urban and landscape design undergraduate students to have more understanding of spatial planning in a collaborative learning context while having communication with teachers and/or experts. In a collaborative teaching/learning context, it supports learning outcomes and interaction effects of architecture, urban and landscape design undergraduate students. Here, the web model proposed adapted a spatial planning methodology and its examination for integrating a rural building in a case study area (Hervas, Spain). Using the web-based GIS model, architecture, urban and landscape design undergraduate students can correctly plan and design a rural building as using various categorized factors and taking favors from them. Moreover, the web model can support architecture, urban and landscape design undergraduate students who request communication from teachers and/or experts in a dispersed location. Hence, the web-based scaffolding GIS information model can be an approaching method to assess the competence and efficiency of using scaffoldings in encouraging teaching/learning activities for architecture, urban and landscape design undergraduate students. It is to improve meta-cognitive consciousness and in addition to knowledge achievement with regard to spatial GIS planning processes in a disseminated design environment. Thus, it is to satisfy a mix of architecture, urban and landscape design undergraduate students with different requirements in a collaborative learning project context.

In addition to its indispensable role in presentation, graphic design could be designated as a powerful instrument especially in architectural education for students to develop a design idea at the very beginning of the process. That's why, mood boards provide a useful tool with which students respond their perceptions on the design problem and develop ideas about it. This paper discusses the role of graphics in design education as not only it is commonly accepted, a presentation tool; but also as rarely applied, a part of design process. The discussion is held through comparison of usage of art of graphics both on final presentations and on ‘mood boards’ linking the end of the process with the beginning. With these ideas in mind, the authors would like to share their experiences and define the contributions of usage of mood boards in 2013-2014 semester of the design studios in Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design at Akdeniz University FFA.

This study analysed the use of generative AI tools in a university design course to evaluate the learning effects and tool perceptions of learners in the design process. The study was conducted by investigating the practice of using AI tools in the design process and the resulting learning experience. In particular, a class based on the double diamond model was taught for each stage of the design process, allowing learners to experience the process of problem exploration, definition, development, and communication through AI tools. A final survey was used to evaluate the usefulness of the generative AI tools, their intention to continue using them, their ability to support design, and the speed and quality of their work. While students rated AI tools as increasing the efficiency of the design process and having a positive impact on the speed and quality of their work, they also tended to perceive a threat to their creativity. The achievement gap between foreign and Korean students was reduced in classes using AI tools, indicating that AI tools can contribute to closing the learning gap. This study highlights that the educational introduction of AI tools in design majors should be designed in a way that promotes creative thinking among learners, and that continuous pedagogical development is needed to consider how and when to use AI tools.

The training for the profession of an architect or engineer-architect includes in the program of professional education at the propaeutic level, disciplines that inherit the experience of Bauhaus and VKhutemas institutions of the 1920s. Analytical methodology for studying patterns of composition in these schools is based on the prospect of adaptation to changing conditions of socio-cultural and historical development. As part of studying foreign and domestic experience in training architects at a technical university, the features of training of students in architecture are considered, including those from famous Russian and foreign institutions. The paper presents a study of the specifics of architectural and artistic training of an architect at a technical and architectural university, using private methods of architectural design. The objectives of this study are to compare architectural and artistic education in Russian and foreign technical universities; to describe the training method used by UrFU; to justify the relevance and significance of private methods for the educational process in training architects at technical universities. The study is focused on the process of architectural training at a technical university; subject of the research is the justification of the importance of using architectural graphics and modeling techniques as the main teaching tools in architectural education. The process of educational architectural design follows certain techniques and methods. This ensures in architectural and design education activities, both reproductive and productive, the mastery of the following private methods of architectural design by students: graphic, modelling. Research materials present an analysis of the architectural and artistic components in foreign universities and technical universities in our country. Architectural graphics and modeling in these universities are one of the most important pedagogical techniques for developing students' design skills. These techniques allow them to comprehend the patterns of connection between architectural form and engineering design and form an understanding of the tectonic essence of building materials work. The conducted review showed that, when performing graphic and modelling exercises on architectural composition in the 1st–3rd year (frontal, volume, depth-space), familiarization with the methods and tools for forming a composition, creation of plasticity, mastery of the methods for creating volume compositions and their placement in space, as well as mastery of methods and means for organizing open and enclosed spaces using volume and frontal relief elements. This allows for more complex projects at the next stage, such as solving the volume-spatial composition of an ensemble embedded in the environment and forming the planning structure of buildings. The results of the study confirm that the technology of modeling and architectural graphics, which is a component of both artistic and creative and architectural and construction professional components, remains the most intense and most analytical, visual and objective in teaching students in propaedeutic courses (1–3), in the direction of "Architecture", both in art and, most importantly, in a technical university.

This study aims to delve into the impact of utilizing ChatGPT and other AI tools on the discourse writing performance of English major students, as well as to explore their potential value and future prospects in the field of English education. With the continuous development and application of artificial intelligence technology, AI tools have gradually demonstrated their unique advantages and potential in language learning and writing instruction. However, for English major students, how to effectively utilize these technological tools to enhance their discourse writing abilities remains a subject of considerable interest. In the field of language learning, AI technology has made significant strides in vocabulary acquisition, grammar correction, and discourse generation. ChatGPT, as a natural language generation model, possesses strong language comprehension and generation capabilities and is widely used in dialogue generation, text generation, and other areas. In English education, ChatGPT can provide personalized writing guidance and feedback to students, helping them clarify their thoughts and improve their expression skills. Additionally, other AI tools such as speech recognition technology and text-to-speech technology offer more possibilities for students' English learning and writing. However, despite the numerous advantages demonstrated by AI tools in discourse writing instruction for English major students, their application also faces challenges and limitations. For instance, AI tools still have limitations in understanding academic language and specialized terminology, and they cannot fully replace human professional judgment and language application abilities. Furthermore, the widespread adoption and use of AI tools require addressing technical challenges and adaptation issues in teaching practice to ensure their effective application in education. In conclusion, this study will comprehensively explore the actual effects and potential value of AI tools in discourse writing instruction for English major students through a combination of literature review and empirical research methods, providing new insights and guidance for teaching practice and future research endeavors.

The rapid advancement of image-generating AI technology has garnered attention as a creative tool in the design field. This study aims to analyze the priority of major image-generating AI tools—DALL·E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion Online, and Firefly—in graphic design. Focusing on three areas of graphic design—identity design, poster design, and web design—the study conducted literature reviews and expert surveys to evaluate the applicability and effectiveness of each AI tool across different design process stages. The results indicate that DALL·E excelled in stage 2 (idea generation), while Midjourney performed better in stage 3 (design prototyping) and stage 4 (design selection and refinement). Furthermore, Firefly, while initially showing lower performance in prompt creation, demonstrated gradual improvement as the process progressed, yielding comparatively positive results in tasks involving reference-based design refinement. This study provides valuable guidance for designers in selecting appropriate AI tools for their work and is expected to serve as foundational research for effectively integrating AI technology into the design process.

This study scrutinizes free AI tools tailored for supporting literature review and analysis in academic research, emphasizing their response to direct inquiries. Through a targeted keyword search, we cataloged relevant AI tools and evaluated their output variation and source validity. Our results reveal a spectrum of response qualities, with some tools integrating non-academic sources and others depending on outdated information. Notably, most tools showed a lack of transparency in source selection. Our study highlights two key limitations: the exclusion of commercial AI tools and the focus solely on tools that accept direct research queries. This raises questions about the potential capabilities of paid tools and the efficacy of combining various AI tools for enhanced research outcomes. Future research should explore the integration of diverse AI tools, assess the impact of commercial tools, and investigate the algorithms behind response variability. This study contributes to a better understanding of AI's role in academic research, emphasizing the importance of careful selection and critical evaluation of these tools in academic endeavors.