Working through the chaos of AI

Tim Fu’s recent work examines the use of AI image generation technology, such as Midjourney and DALL·E 2, to examine how this disruptive new technology is reshaping the role of architectural design.

How Tim started and his artistic approach:

AI text-to-image technology has generated a lot of interest recently. Through its latest mainstream release, many of his esteemed colleagues at Zaha Hadid Architects are exploring it as a potential tool for design. His director, Patrik Schumacher, has continuously expressed interest in this technology, and a few directors have demonstrated some of their initial studies in a company-wide Pecha Kucha. Right from the start he was captivated by its immediacy and unpredictability.

He started following artificial intelligence artists and architects on Instagram. Soon he discovered a dominant theme of chaotic, dreamlike and surreal quality in many of the artists’ output. It was all very mind-blowing and fascinating, but that said, he eventually felt what he could only describe as “AI fatigue”. When images vaguely represent several things simultaneously, and when materiality and scale feel loosely connected, he disconnects from his physical experience and memory.

In his works, he sifted through the chaos of the outputs and found architectural qualities and realism. It was a complex process of mastering prompt craft and strictly fixing the output in post-processing. From what he sees, it’s amazing that every AI artist is already developing their style, some are surrealist, some are historically influenced, and some are interior oriented. For him, he strives to combine Zaha Hadid’s neo-futuristic language with inspiring forms found in nature.

In essence, Tim Fu aims to frame the output as a singular concept, a building juxtaposed in the idealized context of nature. Many artificial intelligence artists present architecture as phenomenological experiences. But he also likes to explore the semiotic side of architecture as an icon and a product.

Method of combining AIs:

Prompt-craft, the art of generating images with text, feels simple to understand and difficult to master. How words are put together greatly affects the output of AI. Grammatical thinking can be disregarded. Words, their close connection and placement can be “felt”, more like abstract art than literature.

Many artists who explored Midjourney and DALL·E 2 agreed that Midjourney feels more artistic and creative, while Dalle-2 seems more logical and realistic. Although he finds from his own research that there is benefit in the combined use of both.

Midjourney is visually adept. From the start, it reveals artistic composition, color, style and lighting. Tim Fu mentioned that he often uses it as a starting point to generate the overall concept.

From here, he guides the iterations towards his goal. He assesses the viability of an output based on realism and clarity of form. When an ideal result is achieved. He implements DALL·E 2 to fix local patches and improve the shape. Finally, he retouches applications like Photoshop to fix any remaining issues and give it a final look.

Parametric Design in the Age of AI:

For Tim, the current holy grail of AI is achieving parametric architecture that can serve as a viable starting point for materialization. As parametric facade specialist at ZHCode and algorithmic design instructor at Harvard GSD. He thinks so because this field is new and the database is small. Developing workable parametric designs can be particularly challenging. However, he considers compatibility between these AIs and a specific parametric language. The non-discrete nature of AI often offers mixed and evolving elements more suited to algorithmic design. (However, admittedly, this may change as AI models evolve.)

Tim’s final thoughts:

The speed of AI progress is remarkable, but he is convinced that we are still in the infancy of this technology. Its current form is uncontrollable and chaotic, but it will surely evolve towards more control and fine-tuning. This will inevitably shake up all areas of architectural design and visualization.

According to him, every new technology comes with naysayers. There is a growing aversion to AI with concerns that it is here to replace artists and designers. He feels that he disagrees with that feeling. In the context of design, AI is a tool that requires a designer’s control and curation. Without the designer, AI is stuck as abstract art and cannot develop into the field of utility.

Overall, Tim hopes to continue AI research in the area of ​​buildability. So these whimsical shapes can take shape in real life. Until then, he mentioned, he enjoyed generating and curating AI images.

About Tim Fu

Tim Fu is a London-based architectural designer specializing in advanced computer design and AI technology. He is part of Zaha Hadid Architects in London, where he focuses on algorithmic design at ZH CODE (Computational Research Group). The team works on various architectural developments around the world. Tim has published work on CNN, Dezeen, AJ and Archdaily and runs a computer design workshop at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

If you are interested in learning more about the experiences of architects, designers and artists with AI. You can check out A (Mid)journey to Hassan Ragab’s virtual world.