Architects’ Attitudes to the Age
of Artificial Intelligence
Will AI replace architects’ roles?
There’s a conversation frequently heard among today’s architects: “Will AI replace our roles?” At the same time, the most frequently addressed topic in architecture lectures and programs is “AI-driven design.” Within this trend, I believe architects should reframe their questions — not “What will AI change?” but “How can we leverage AI to restructure our design processes?” 입니다. Architects must now contemplate how their roles can expand and what preparations are needed.
Written by & Courtesy of Architect Seongwoo Ahn (Leader of the New Tech SU, Junglim Architecture)
Edited by the Brand Team of Junglim Architecture
Toward the technology supporting architecture
Many people think of AI in architecture as tools like Midjourney that generate impressive images. Recently, the emergence of Google NanoBanana has rendered existing prompt engineering skills obsolete for image creation. Yet, looking at Junglim’s AI WORKS competition or Junior Committee presentations, we recognize the focus remains largely on “AI image generation.” However, AI has already surpassed the stage of merely mimicking stunning architectural exteriors. It is evolving into a technology that understands the structural order and design logic behind the splendor of images, supporting truly realizable architecture.
The progression from drafting boards to CAD, then to BIM, has now reached AI. Though we’ve hit a technological singularity, the changes seep into workflows and daily routines so naturally that they’re barely noticeable. In future architecture, AI’s presence will be proven not by “how beautiful a picture it draws,” but by “how valid a logic it presents.” A designer wielding the pen of imagination, and an engineer wielding the calculator of logic — the AI that masters both perspectives will set new standards for design. The architecture of the future, embedded with AI processes, will be far more vivid and powerful than we imagine.
The Smart Assistant: AI’s Enormous Potential
AI-generated images are creative. According to Margaret Boden’s1 theory of creativity,2 AI rapidly combines data accumulated by tens of thousands of architects (combinational creativity), tirelessly explores thousands of alternatives (exploratory creativity), and inspires us by transcending existing grammars (transformational creativity). But this represents only a fraction of AI’s potential. More importantly, AI can evolve beyond an “image generator” into a “smart assistant” that innovatively comprehends the entire design process. We must effectively leverage AI’s efficiency beyond mere image creation.
For example, during planning and regulatory review stages, inputting site conditions alone quickly generates compliant massing and supports feasibility analysis. In the design process, repetitive tasks are automated to algorithmically organize parking layouts, core planning, toilet arrangements, thereby presenting rational alternatives. The time and capacity thus secured allow architects to focus on more essential concerns.
The saved time can be devoted to devising building forms, spatial atmospheres, and user experiences. AI is also highly useful for engineering analyses like energy optimization. From the schematic design phase, it simulates daylight, wind paths, and energy efficiency, while reviewing rational structural systems to reduce frequent design changes and elevate completion quality. Beyond image generation, it enables data-driven decision-making.
Fundamental Attitude for Future Leadership
Historically, architects served as master planners and master architects, overseeing cities and buildings while setting strategic directions. However, as design processes have become more specialized and fragmented, today’s architects spend more time on individual tasks and coordination. Soon, when agent AI acts as a “personal assistant” on each desk, architects can refocus on holistically overseeing and judging entire projects. Evolving beyond technicians drawing every line, they will craft prompts to elicit diverse possibilities, curate results, and bear final responsibility.
Now is the time to set aside outdated 2D drawings and paper-based thinking, integrating data and simulations as the new language of design. Architects will conduct the AI orchestra through prompts, selectively curating diverse outputs, and assuming final judgment and accountability.
Future leadership belongs to architects who master AI. Wielding the baton amid waves of data isn’t grand rhetoric — it may be the basic attitude for seizing new design initiative. Rather than hesitating before change, understanding and riding its current will be the most practical preparation we can make today.
- Margaret A. Boden: a world-renowned scholar who pioneered cognitive science and computational psychology. ↩︎
- In her 2010 book Creativity and Art, Margaret A. Boden classifies three types of creativity: combinational, exploratory, and transformational. ↩︎
