How Architects are using Artificial Intelligence in the Design Process

May 22, 2023
A Q&A with Michael Great and Ramin Rezvani

Revolutions in digital tools and technology are rapidly changing the landscape of many different industries across the globe. One of the latest innovations in digital technology is the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence, or AI. Two Ankrom Moisan architects, Michael Great and Ramin Rezvani – Director of Design Strategy and Senior Project Designer, respectively – have recently begun to incorporate AI software into their design process, receiving encouraging results.

 

Before the advent of Artificial Intelligence software, precedent images sourced from Pinterest or similar could be used to establish the initial aesthetic direction of a project. Because not every feature of an image would be relevant for a certain project, these images were often cropped and/or collaged together, leading to unnecessary confusion if clients became attached to specific features in precedent images that were never intended to be a part of the final design. AI-generated images have the potential to circumvent that issue, providing inspiration imagery that is specific to a particular place, project, client and design.

 

Example of an AI-generated precedent image.

 

Example of an AI-generated precedent image.

 

Recently, Michael and Ramin have been using AI to create precedent imagery for their projects. In their experience, renderings created by AI software such as Midjourney assist in streamlining the design process and ensuring that clients are on the same page as designers when it comes to project design and direction.

 

For many, Artificial Intelligence still represents an enigmatic, complicated technology of the future, reserved for the plots of science fiction movies. However, recent developments in technology have made AI and its uses more widespread and accessible than ever. To explain how AI can be utilized to generate unique outcomes and facilitate a cohesive design language for a project, Michael and Ramin sat down to answer some questions about how Midjourney is integrated into the projects they work on and to dispel common misconceptions about the technology.

 

Michael and Ramin in the Portland office.

 

Michael and Ramin together in the Portland office.

 

Q: When did you begin incorporating AI into your approach to project design? Why was this something you decided to do?

 

Michael:

Our adoption of AI software has aligned with the technology’s continual improvement. Initially when we started experimenting with architectural imagery, it was giving us broad stroke building concept imagery. These were by no means a “design” but it got Ramin and I thinking, ‘Oh, this technology might be evolving to a place where we could utilize it more in the design process, let’s trial this a bit and see what we can get out of it.’

 

Part of my interest there is that historically architects have used precedent imagery to describe things that don’t exist yet, or to get clients aligned to what the design intent might be? Language doesn’t often get us to a full understanding. So, I think architects have always used imagery, whether that’s precedent imagery or rough sketches to just get alignment about the direction of a project aesthetically. Both Ramin and I have always thought it was strange that in this process you are often using existing buildings to convey new ideas. I think the advantage of using Midjourney and AI is that we can accomplish the same general task of conceptual alignment but show clients unique imagery that is specific to their project, place and aesthetic.

 

Ramin:

We just started playing around with Midjourney when it came out. It was really exciting and interesting, and we had no idea what it was, or what it could do, or how powerful it was the first couple of times we were testing it out. Then we tried to make it do something specific, and that’s where it started getting fascinating, because it’s potentially a huge shortcut for certain things- especially with generating concept imagery.

 

We kind of hit a wall with a project where we wanted to be able to quickly visually convey something that didn’t exist. We had some loose ideas influenced by some projects that only exist at a completely different scale than what we were looking at. We thought ‘let’s see if we can figure out how to combine all of these ideas and generate imagery to illustrate to the client where we are going with this.’ Through that process, getting imagery close to what we were trying to do was mind-blowing.

 

Precedent imagery influenced by AI designs.

 

Final project design renders created by Michael and Ramin that were influenced by AI imagery.

 

Q: Ramin, you’ve said that AI is “like a paintbrush or any creative tool, you just need to figure out how to use it,” and Michael, that “it’s a language. You have to learn it, just like any software.” How did you both go about learning to use these tools, and how long did it take you to learn the language, so-to-speak?

 

Michael:

I don’t know how far we actually are on that journey, and I think we have a long way to go. There are a ton of resources out there, though, in terms of helping you learn the language through prompt editing. But this is moving so fast that there is now software that will do your prompts for you. You can just add in a few descriptive words, and it’ll fill in the rest, writing it in the way that the AI software wants to see it. Every time you use it, the more you use it, you learn something about what the output is. The more trial and error you go through, the faster you get at getting to an image you can use.

 

You have to think differently about the words you are using to get the imagery desired. It’s a shift in how you think since you have to use fewer words to get your idea across. You must be specific and pointed while still giving the software enough information. From that standpoint, I feel like the faster you can get your mind into that mode of thinking, the better off you will be as AI continues to develop, because the premise of utilizing language to direct output will only accelerate from here.

 

What we all have to adapt to and learn is how to use language to describe what we want machines to do. But even that is probably a couple years from being obsolete. There seems to be an updated version of Midjourney every month that’s substantially better than the last. Even since we last talked, they’ve come out with reverse-prompt capability. So instead of putting a text prompt and getting an image, you can do the opposite, dropping in an image and getting a prompt. By doing so you can start to understand the language in reverse because you’re dropping in an image and the AI is telling you what it sees in text.

 

Ramin:

I’ve been using it a lot, trying to figure out how to create very specific imagery. Like Michael said, it’s a lot of trial and error. To be able to get usable images, it has definitely required a shift in the way that I think due to the way that the prompts work. I’ve been approaching it almost like a science experiment, changing the prompts slightly with each iteration to see what I get back visually with each update. But also, it’s not like you can master it because it’s changing so rapidly. The next versions will likely have a completely different interface, so the way that you write prompts will likely change too.

 

Q: Can you walk me through the typical steps of using Midjourney to create precedent imagery?

 

Michael:

The process right now that we’ve been utilizing is that we’re trying to plug it in to an existing process. On a lot of our projects, we start by charette-ing and brainstorming, trying to develop a cohesive concept. AI software like Midjourney increases the speed at which we can reach solutions, because we’re not all going in different design directions.

 

What we’ve tried to do initially is take the guiding design principles for a project and feed those words into the AI to see what kind of visual representation it would create with our initial thoughts. So again, trying to accelerate the process a bit and get to visuals through words that we’ve already talked about or discussed to create alignment on design direction. As the technology evolves, there will be other ways for us to utilize it, maybe in final renderings, for instance. But right now, I think coming up with precedent imagery is the best use of it.

 

Visual breakdown of how guiding design principles and text prompts are used to generate new precedent imagery renderings with AI software.

 

Visual breakdown of how guiding design principles and text prompts are used to generate new precedent imagery renderings with AI software.

 

Q: [You’ve] said that clients often don’t know what to make of design renderings when they learn that they were created by AI. What are some common misconceptions or misunderstandings about Artificial Intelligence that you’ve encountered since you began using it?

 

Michael:

The most common misconception that Ramin and I have run into is that the AI-created images are just precedent imagery pulled from the internet. You have to explain that it’s not a search engine, it’s not finding an existing image on the web. Often, I have to describe what it does in shorthand for people to understand it.

 

Ramin:

One of the things I noticed right away was people asking ‘doesn’t this take the creative process out of architecture now that you have this image designed by AI?’ At least for the time being, I don’t feel that way. As a design team, you still have to generate the foundational ideas and coax the AI to output something that aligns with your goals and vision. It’s a quick way to get the team on the same page and discover interesting emergent qualities from concept intersections that you may not have discovered on your own. In our current workflow AI produced visuals are intended to draw from and quickly study a whole bunch of different ideas to curate the most interesting aspects of each, based on what we asked the software to do.

 

Q: Do you have any fears surrounding the use of AI or the rate at which it is evolving, a la Terminator’s Skynet?

 

Michael:

Like any new technology, it absolutely has the ability to be used in various ways. I mean, there’s no way around that. I think there’s many applications of AI that could be negative, primarily in terms of its ability to manipulate people. But in terms of what we do, there’s not much risk if you understand it’s just one tool out of many that we can use. It’s not like Midjourney will actually produce architecture. It produces ideas that a designer still has to understand, edit, and synthesize into a project’s end design.

 

Ramin:

It’s hard to tell right now what is going to change and how much it will change. I’m definitely concerned about it, not just for the field of architecture, but for humans. In general, I feel like no technology has advanced this quickly before and it will continue to accelerate. There are just so many unknowns but I’m sure we will quickly see AI implementation in daily life. I think that we’ll know a lot more in the next five years or so.

 

AI process design results.

 

AI process design results, highlighting the Midjourney-generated concept renderings that Michael and Ramin synthesized and incorporated into the initial massing render for a project.

 

Q: With the rapid speed at which AI changes and evolves, how do you envision the future of AI as it relates to architecture? What about the future of architecture as it relates to AI?

 

Michael:

I think that AI continues a theme that has remained consistent throughout the last 100 years in terms of how architecture utilizes technology. Usually, it’s used to speed up the design process. One thing about architecture that’s so different from a lot of other professions is that it still relies on artistry, but there’s always a ‘hurry-up’ type of attitude, we are often pushed to develop designs and drawings faster and faster because of project economics. So, we’re always looking for tools to speed up the process. In addition, architecture is a broad profession. There are people doing wildly different things in the profession their whole career, and I think that could get streamlined.

 

Outside of Midjourney, there’s a whole slew of AI implementations using other design and construction software that’s meant to speed up how fast we can produce a construction set with fewer people. I think inevitably, that’s where architecture has always gone. 100 years ago, it took 40 people in a room, drawing a set for a high-rise tower by hand. I think in the future, a 40-story tower can probably be designed and drawn by two people. Eventually, the industry will get to a point where one or two people can accomplish that same task in half the time it takes now.

 

I would say that right now, as designers, we are not spending enough time understanding the place, the people using the building, and the environment surrounding a project. We’re rushing through a lot of those elements to get projects built, so I think where you end up by incorporating AI into that process is more thoughtful buildings, because we don’t have to spend as much time crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s. We can actually think about the project and the building rather than drawing it, and to me, that’s pretty exciting. Architecture can’t do anything but get better through this process. I don’t think anything gets worse. It just gets better.

 

Ramin:

In my mind, there’s no doubt that any areas of inefficiency in the architectural process right now, some of which will be resolved using AI. It’s going to accelerate and amplify the amount that an individual can do by themselves, so I think it’ll take fewer people to do the same amount of work.

 

I think it will allow us to study way more aspects of a project quickly and, like Michael said, make projects significantly better by understanding more of the site’s parameters. It feels like an amplification to me now, but who knows what will happen in six months?

 

AI-rendered precedent imagery from other projects.

 

AI-rendered precedent imagery from other projects.

 

Compared to other Pacific Northwest architecture firms, Ankrom Moisan is a pacesetter in terms of integrating Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools. Few competitors use AI, if at all. International firms, though, tend to use AI software for design-based research. However you cut it, the digital tools of imagined sci-fi futures are closer than it seems, and may, in fact, already be here. It’s a massive paradigm shift that will take some time to get used to, but the good news is that when the AI overlords take over, we will already know how to deal with them.

 

 

Black and white headshot of Jack Cochran, the author of this blog post.

 

By Jack Cochran, Marketing Coordinator

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Over the last several years, more demand in...
ARCHITECTURE
HEALTHCARE
INTERIOR DESIGN
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
An Integrated Approach to Revolutionary Healthcare Design
Population health relies on more than simply treating sickness. Leading a healthcare shift to a value-based model whose viability depends on...
Population health relies on more than simply treating sickness. Leading...
ARCHITECTURE
INTERIOR DESIGN
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
WORKPLACE
Mass Timber: Harder Mechanical
A fifth-generation Portland family business, ...
A fifth-generation Portland family business, ...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
INTERIOR DESIGN
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Wynne Watts Commons
It is undeniable that housing insecurity affects millions across the United States. Rents are up and homelessness is on the rise. There are many...
It is undeniable that housing insecurity affects millions across the...
ARCHITECTURE
CULTURE
Employee Spotlight: Jennifer Sobieraj Sanin
Empathetic, balanced, and calm—three words you’ll hear from Jennifer Sobieraj Sanin’s team if you ask them to describe her...
Empathetic, balanced, and calm—three words you’ll hear from...
INTERIOR DESIGN
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
WORKPLACE
Mass Timber: Moda Tower Lobby
For our first mass-timber curtain wall in Portland’s ...
For our first mass-timber curtain wall in Portland’s ...
CULTURE
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Spotlight: Intern Jules Stafford
Q: Tell us what you learned through your summer internship at Ankrom Moisan.   A: This...
Q: Tell us what you learned through your summer internship at...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Mass Timber in the Office
Intro It is a challenge right now for employers everywhere to get people into the office. It has us rethinking ways to encourage people...
Intro It is a challenge right now for employers everywhere to...
ARCHITECTURE
CULTURE
Employee Spotlight: Ryan Miyahira
Ankrom Moisan Managing Principal Ryan Miyahira recently hosted AM’s second annual Pickathon, a video showcase of the firm’s many talented...
Ankrom Moisan Managing Principal Ryan Miyahira recently hosted AM’s...
ARCHITECTURE
CULTURE
INTERIOR DESIGN
Virtual Reality
Our incredible in-house visualization team is testing out some VR upgrades! Virtual reality has proven to be a valuable design tool for our teams...
Our incredible in-house visualization team is testing out some VR...
ARCHITECTURE
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Mass Timber: Skylight
Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District is poised to transform its character and vibrancy. Designed to capture and elevate...
Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District is poised...
ARCHITECTURE
CULTURE
Employee Spotlight: Lori Kellow
Lori Kellow, Ankrom Moisan’s longest standing employee, has been with the firm since 1985. After a nearly 37-year tenure, Lori has a uniquely...
Lori Kellow, Ankrom Moisan’s longest standing employee, has been with...
ARCHITECTURE
CULTURE
Project Pin-ups
In pursuit of the best solutions, we create opportunities for collaboration.   After all this time meeting and sharing ideas...
In pursuit of the best solutions, we create opportunities for...
CULTURE
Ankrom Moisan’s Community Service
Old Town Cleanup Community Service, Ankrom Moisan Represents!   Many of our employees provide valuable time, skills and efforts...
Old Town Cleanup Community Service, Ankrom Moisan...
ARCHITECTURE
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Mass Timber: The Standard at Seattle
With study spaces for every occasion, social areas, luxurious amenities, and ground floor retail just blocks from campus, ...
With study spaces for every occasion, social areas, luxurious...
INTERIOR DESIGN
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
WORKPLACE
Celebrating Earth Day
Our Workplace Design Team is highlighting our integration of salvaged products and materials to celebrate Earth Day! We intentionally source and...
Our Workplace Design Team is highlighting our integration of salvaged...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Interior Design Camp
One of the most rewarding aspects of my career in interior design is sharing it with young people. Many years ago, when my, now, college-age...
One of the most rewarding aspects of my career in interior design is...
CULTURE
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Sustainability & Ankrom Moisan Interiors
Q: What efforts are Ankrom Moisan making to provide better information and resources when it comes to...
Q: What efforts are Ankrom Moisan making to provide better...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Designing for Inclusivity
Designing for inclusivity is something that is always on interior designers’ radar.  ADA regulations instituted in 1990 blossomed into the...
Designing for inclusivity is something that is always on interior...
ARCHITECTURE
INTERIOR DESIGN
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
WORKPLACE
Mass Timber: 38 Davis
At 38 Davis, work and home is integrated through mass...
At ...
ARCHITECTURE
CULTURE
Employee Spotlight: Keith Larson
Did you know Ankrom Moisan has an in-house model maker?   Meet Keith Larson. While he’s been working as a professional...
Did you know Ankrom Moisan has an in-house model...
INTERIOR DESIGN
URBAN LIVING
Convenience Factor
The new standard is that services, products, and conveniences are available to people in a matter of minutes. Residents demand their communities...
The new standard is that services, products, and conveniences are...
ARCHITECTURE
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Insights from the Advancing Mass Timber Construction Conference
Mass timber technology continues to develop rapidly as more and more projects seek to implement this beautiful, sustainable, and durable material....
Mass timber technology continues to develop rapidly as more and more...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Project Materials Spotlight
A trend our workplace team has been observing lately: landlords are considering their tenants more like customers and creating spaces as a...
A trend our workplace team has been observing lately: landlords are...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Office Design that Supports Employees Holistically
With more employers offering the ability to work from home—and ...
With more employers offering the ability to work from home—and ...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Lifestyle Experiences at Work
Natural light. Fresh air. Lush greenery. Hospitality-inspired amenities. Companies want to give employees a lifestyle package that makes people...
Natural light. Fresh air. Lush greenery. Hospitality-inspired...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Technology-Rich Workplaces
Before the pandemic, relaxing with coworkers in the office breakroom or preparing meals in the communal kitchen were typical, stress-free, even...
Before the pandemic, relaxing with coworkers in the office breakroom or...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Project Materials Spotlight
In...
...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Simplifying the Specification Process
Within my design passion comes a desire to learn about how spaces and their materiality affect people mentally, psychologically, physiologically,...
Within my design passion comes a desire to learn about how spaces and...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
SENIOR COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Designing for Comfort
Our homes should be comfortable, should rejuvenate us, and they can make or break our capacity for resiliency. Designing for comfort goes far...
Our homes should be comfortable, should rejuvenate us, and they can...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Discovering a Love for Design
This is a familiar story for many interior designers. I wanted to be an interior designer since I was in grade school; the signs were there from...
This is a familiar story for many interior designers. I wanted to be an...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Human Centered Design
...
...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Symbiotic Communities
Before the pandemic, it was common for businesses and office workers to have an insulated experience within the...
Before the pandemic, it was common for...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Civic Pride
...
...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
What’s Next for the Workplace?
What will it take to revive central business districts across the US? What role will your workplace play in this recovery?  What makes a...
What will it take to revive central business districts across the US?...
HOUSING
SENIOR COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Looking Ahead
Ankrom Moisan’s Jeremy Southerland, Alissa Brandt, and Chris Ebert led a presentation ...
Ankrom Moisan’s Jeremy Southerland, Alissa...
INTERIOR DESIGN
URBAN LIVING
Multi-Faceted Life
Apartment buildings are micro-neighborhoods, offering residents opportunities to connect to the community around them. And as individual unit...
Apartment buildings are micro-neighborhoods, offering residents...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
SENIOR COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Fitness is Integral to Wellness
The connections between exercise and overall wellness are well established—but how can we, as designers, create senior communities that...
The connections between exercise and overall wellness are well...
ARCHITECTURE
SENIOR COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Balancing Elements of Design with Light in Mind
With access to natural daylight, we’re sharper and happier during the day, we sleep better at night, and we recovery faster when we’re sick....
With access to natural daylight, we’re sharper and happier during the...
INTERIOR DESIGN
URBAN LIVING
Adaptive Living
There’s a new focus on the changing needs of residents in an evolving world. Future-ready units with practical and customizable features will...
There’s a new focus on the changing needs of residents in an evolving...
INTERIOR DESIGN
URBAN LIVING
Leading the Evolving Market
As people adapt to the shocks of the pandemic, multi-family communities are responding to the long-term shifts in residents’ daily...
As people adapt to the shocks of the pandemic, multi-family communities...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
INTERIOR DESIGN
SENIOR COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Vitality in the Village
Understanding the connection between a well-designed community and people’s overall resilience and health, our campus master plan for Mary’s...
Understanding the connection between a well-designed community and...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
SENIOR COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Approaching Air Quality Holistically
Fresh air and wellness are intrinsically connected. With ready access to fresh air, people are more alert, physically healthier, able to heal...
Fresh air and wellness are intrinsically connected. With ready access...
INTERIOR DESIGN
URBAN LIVING
[Home]Work
With the rapid acceptance of remote work, we are examining how residents’ needs are changing in multifamily communities. Building amenities...
With the rapid acceptance of remote work, we are examining how...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Re-Connect
What is the purpose of the office now? And in the future? To answer these questions, we surveyed nearly 400 people from various industries and...
What is the purpose of the office now? And in the future? To answer...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
The New Suburban Office
Natural ventilation and access to fresh air are priorities for post-pandemic office spaces. With people’s growing interest in shorter commutes,...
Natural ventilation and access to fresh air are priorities for...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Evolution of Office Amenities Q&A
COVID-19’s influence on the future of office space is one of the real estate industry’s million-dollar questions today. With many employees...
COVID-19’s influence on the future of office space is one of the real...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
Feasibility Studies
We conduct site feasibility studies for our clients, which are divided into three tiers. From Tier 1 to Tier 3, each tier deals with increasing...
We conduct site feasibility studies for our clients, which are divided...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
SENIOR COMMUNITIES
SUSTAINABILITY & WELLNESS
Accommodation Around Dining
Sharing meals is essential to people’s social and emotional wellness. Our insights support safer communal meals in senior living campuses that...
Sharing meals is essential to people’s social and emotional wellness....
CULTURE
AM Design Week 2020
For Seattle Design Festival’s 10th anniversary in August, 2020, our Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco offices celebrated Design Week...
For Seattle Design Festival’s 10th anniversary in August, 2020, our...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Re-New
Our wellness solutions are realistic and evidence-based. By investigating how the coronavirus affects workplace design, setting clear outcomes,...
Our wellness solutions are realistic and evidence-based. By...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
Apartment Innovation Insights
After interviewing hundreds of apartment residents, we distilled their responses and refined our observations into practical design...
After interviewing hundreds of apartment residents, we distilled their...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Re-Entry
Ankrom Moisan has spent decades designing healthy, empowering workplaces. Working quickly and cost-effectively, we design and implement strategies...
Ankrom Moisan has spent decades designing healthy, empowering...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Re-Imagine
Our own reentry strategy for 38 Davis, Ankrom Moisan’s Portland headquarters, puts our design insights into practice. Discover how we...
Our own reentry strategy for 38 Davis, Ankrom Moisan’s Portland...
INTERIOR DESIGN
WORKPLACE
Re-Set
We surveyed 300+ people about returning to the office, and their responses were loud and clear. A holistic, employee-centered approach is...
We surveyed 300+ people about returning to the office, and their...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
High-Rise Design
Download our latest lookbook on urban high-rise design.   ...
Download our latest lookbook on urban high-rise...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
Design for Living: Mid-Rise
Download our inspiring 2020 lookbook on mid-rise living.   ...
Download our inspiring 2020 lookbook on mid-rise...
ARCHITECTURE
HOUSING
Apartment Innovation Survey
Our survey, conducted from May 28 through June 17, 2020, yielded over 400 responses and 1,635 written comments about apartment living...
Our survey, conducted from May 28 through June 17, 2020, yielded over...