With the guest of this episode I reflect on the digital toolbox of today’s architects and explore options that might be available in the near future.
Ben James studied architecture at the university of applied arts in Vienna in the class of Gregg Lynn and was disappointed by the softwares available to him and the way architecture is generated digitally. In the framework of the University he explored the boundaries of AI creativity and after his diploma he founded together with Michal Busta the start-up company mlxar. Mlxar stands for machine learning extended architecture and uses artificial intelligence to create in a dialogue with the designer of buildings or entire cities. The first environments they aim at are those that we – or at least our kids – play in virtually. The gaming industry became a gigantic market with the need to design large virtual worlds. The tool Ben James and his teams are developing is capable of this in a very fast manner and will offer even further options to these worlds as the city can evolve during the gaming process or might visually change when you have to repeat a section after respawn.
According to Ben James this approach to design is not limited to the virtual world and suits the design process much better – but listen for yourself.
I wish you a lot of inspiration,
David Pašek.
