Introduction
As we all head towards the end of another year – it felt like a time to get reflective! This happened during an unhealthy early 3am trip to Birmingham airport as I took off on my last England football away trip to Greece ( Athens ). Athens, where thousands of years ago they were capable of constructing the acropolis, something constructed Before Christ - while I am in a construction era that is struggling to build simple housing Before Court!
My plan at the start of 2024 was to feed my brain with knowledge, a task I have completed to a decent standard but not excelled. So, carrying a book in my suitcase that I had been carrying around in my work rucksack for months, it was my mission to complete Artificial Intelligence and Architecture From Research to Practice by Stanislas Chaillou published in 2022. The book itself was one that I noticed on LinkedIn and was recommend by highly accredited people - if it works for them it should work for a newbie in the digital construction world. While struggling to open my eyes at the airport and after a full English breakfast - I suddenly became inspired by the Greece philosophers of Athens to feed my brain as promised at the start of 2024 so I began reading…….
Summary
Chaillou begins the book with a timeline style discussion starting from 1940s leading to the Deep Learning revolution in 2010s. Afterwards, software is introduced that has been tailored over decades to support architectural visions including computer aided design (CAD), Paramericism modelling (Revit, Grasshopper and Rhino) and flowing into the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Similar to the books beginning, the history of AI and who are the main prosaists’ is detailed with a tour of change while classification of the deployment of AI. It is midway through the book where Chaillou begins to not only detail but attach AI advancements to the field of architecture. Not only focusing on the capabilities of AI to accelerate the designing of floor plans or facades to a conceptional level but buildings potential whole lifecycles and exploring perspective simulations, structural advancements and urban planning.
The book is then handed over to a wide mixture of experts including companies such as Foster and Partners long with InFraReD, a co-founder of SpaceMaker and many more. Individually they dissect the form, context, performance along with the practice, model, scale, style, ecology and language. Chaillou then closes out the book with final thoughts and remarks to an almost ‘ what is next style conclusion’.
The three best things about this book
- Challiou gave this book a perfect flow which was easy to follow, it had a fascinating begin which may have suited my personal style of reading greater than others. For me to understand context, I have to understand its inception, which was given to me from the very first pages. As someone who is beginning their career in digital construction and working with AI, it opened me up to exciting opportunities in the sector and discussion around predictive simulation.
- This book would be ideal for someone that has to face the day-to-day battle of commuting via train, bus or underground. It is packaged in bitesize chunks which had I read on my usual 30 minutes train journey, I could have chipped away at it comfortably in a week.
- The use of field experts and other specialists was a really interesting twist to the book which was not expected including how market leaders such as Fosters and partners are integrating AI into their personal workflow. My personal favourite was the section on Space maker which had been prepared by CEO and founder – this was something new to me and very exciting!
Conclusion
Whether you are a complete newcomer or you have double figures years of experience the book has a solid balance for both levels. There were sections of the book that to me felt unnecessary and felt a bit confusing to why they had been inserted into the book, but this was softened with the use of QR codes in the margins which considering the type of book I reading felt a perfect fit. Had I got a choice, I would have preferred to have a deeper overview of areas such as parametric modelling and the software which has been vital in shaping where we are as a sector now. Furthermore, the exclusion of any discussion around robotics seemed slightly strange and I did feel a bit shortchanged as this is an area which since the publication of the book has taken big strides forward.
As with most books that I have read, I would be interested to hear if Challiou has any desire to publish a 2.0 version of this book and if any of the topics discussed had moved in the direction which have been outlined within the book – if so, I would be very keen to read it! One thing that was really enjoyable and integrated me into each section was short statements at the beginning and this had me reflective on what I was about to read before it began so it only feels fitting to conclude this review with my favourite hoping that it will start your own journey of thoughts.
The ties between Architecture and Technology are neither recent, nor have they been a stable reality. Despite having quite distinct agendas, their respective histories display and mutual enrichment. Either by simply inspiring one another, or by sharing entire frameworks with each other, their discussion has brought significant contributions to both worlds.
