Artificial intelligence and contemporary Japanese architecture – any relationship?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Tools are culmination of the stages of a civilization; being the immediate expression of progress, assistance, freedom and a manifestation of health – both in terms of moral and morale. Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter AI) – a tool precedenting the fourth industrial revolution – is boasting tremendous transdisciplinary transformations in Japan helping to cater the declining birth rate and rapidly aging society resulting in acute labor shortage in the sectors of transportation – as self-driving cars, ‘CarriRo Delivery’ robots and drones for postal deliveries to mountainous remote islands, safety and resilience – as for the early detection of earthquakes and tsunamis, healthcare – as AI-based medical equipment that uses machine learning to identify signs of disease and locate lesions in medical images, education – as the use of AI-robots to teach English, culture – as the AI-equipped popular robotic dog ‘Aibo’ triggers successful emotional reactions in humans, and in the sector of technology – as self-checkout systems at convenience stores, are just a few of the revolutionizing debuts dubbed as a ladder for economic supremacy in the second largest economy of East Asia – Japan. Is there any possible relationship between AI and contemporary Japanese architecture? What is the influence of emerging AI innovations on the discipline of contemporary architectural design? What kind of architectural spaces we are going to inhabit in the age of AI? This paper attempts to propose answers to these questions by limiting its scope to Japanese contemporary architectural designing.