It could be so easy if we only lived in virtual worlds. We would tell an artificial intelligence how we imagine public space to be, and in no time at all we would have a living space in which we felt comfortable. And the very next day we could change everything again.
In reality, however, all change processes are lengthy and full of hurdles. However, artificial intelligence (AI) can help to find solutions: This is one finding of the urban development festival SOUP, which ended in Frankfurt at the weekend. For three days, around 1,500 participants discussed how the quality of life can be improved – and whether we need to reinvent the city.
Architect Matthias Hollwich, who was born in Munich and works in New York, has playfully tried out what a completely invented city that is reminiscent of Frankfurt could look like. His team set the AI programs ChatGPT and Midjourney the task of combining traditional and modern Frankfurt architecture. The result is somewhat crazy-looking designs, such as high-rise buildings with pointed gabled roofs. But Hollwich is serious about using AI in planning – and points to a number of applications that could make work easier for architects. “We can use it to expand our creativity,” he says, and predicts: “Artificial intelligence will either make architects better or make them unemployed.”
