Weekend Workshop Explores Design and Technology

When planning for Urban Studio’s permanent home in the former Hood-McPherson building, Director Alex Krumdieck ’86 knew one of the important aspects of the new space would be to inspire interdisciplinary collaboration within the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC).

This fall, a weekend workshop brought together students and faculty from the CADC’s Architecture/Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Environmental Design and Graphic Design programs.

“/blend(ing) /imagine(d) intelligences: CADC x PK” was designed as a combination of student experiences and community lecture. The Auburn team co-hosted the workshop with the University of Michigan’s Perry Kulper, an architect and Professor at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. This experience dove deeper into the varied and ongoing uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop hybrid design methods and deliverables within the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture and the School of Industrial and Graphic Design.

Last year, Kulper and Environmental Design Assistant Professor Eilís Finnegan ’20 co-authored “gifting, ghosting, and gigabytes,” a project featured at the 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennial. Prior to returning to her alma mater, Finnegan worked with Kulper during her graduate work at the University of Michigan. They continue to engage with different programs to understand how incorporating new technologies affects the work they do.

During this collaboration, Kulper and Finnegan employed the same design methods they used for “gifting, ghosting, and gigabytes” with the students in the workshop. From digital modeling and AI/blending to animations and other post-production enhancements, the students were able to work within multi-modal digital constructs.

The weekend kicked off on Friday evening with an extensive presentation by Kulper called “Constructed Practices / Tangerine Dreams.” Throughout the lecture, he emphasized how relationships define much of his work. The artwork displayed demonstrated how Kulper is interpreting architectural concepts and inspirations through different genres of art. He showed students how he has connected the spatiality of art and architecture.

On Saturday and Sunday, Kulper and Finnegan encouraged students to explore hybrid software and representational techniques to develop what they call “aerial interjections.” Students designed devices to be programmatically inventive and exploratory in nature. They used a blend of generative AI and other technological tools to develop diptychs in communication with each other. The workshop included discussion on ways to use digital techniques and modeling to see how conceptual ideas and approaches can co-exist.

After the workshop, students continued to develop their work over the subsequent weeks and gathered with Kulper virtually to discuss their progress.

Sunday morning, the Auburn team hosted an informal, recorded conversation with Kulper. The group reflected on the current state of design education and the things everyone is excited about when it comes to exposing students to new models of learning.

As Finnegan explained, “The Auburn in Birmingham building acted as an ideal backdrop/situation for this discussion and we were able to be in communion with each other, while students worked in the studio bays beyond—it has the nature of a ‘think tank’, one in which guest practitioners, alumni, speakers and others can come together.”

Finnegan also represents CADC in AI discussions at the university level, having recently spoken during the Fall 2024 forum of the AI@AU Initiative. This series and the resulting conversations sparked engagement from her CADC colleagues on both the broader applications of AI and its specific integration into design courses. There has also been an increased engagement with colleagues in Engineering, Computer Science and other fields to develop cross-disciplinary research and projects that integrate varied resources, skill sets and interests.

Exposing students to AI in design allows them to see how different tools can be applied across diverse design fields and approaches. It also opens discussions around themes like autonomy, authorship and authenticity in relation to AI use, encouraging students to reflect on these concepts critically and ethically. By exploring various AI research areas—such as large language models, predictive mapping, image generation and systems solutions—students can consider how AI might shape their own projects and influence their relationship with emerging design technologies.

Workshops like “/blend(ing) /imagine(d) intelligences” are designed to expose students to a variety of influences, create conversations, encourage cross-disciplinary thinking and build a curiosity through new perspectives. Finnegan is looking forward to seeing more of these continue, especially through her work with Kulper.

“As Perry and I have worked together before, and will continue to do so, these multi-modal digital constructs will adapt to the shifts in AI design interfaces, mesh model generation and other emerging platforms. By the nature of our collaboration, friendship and cross-institutional care, Perry was eager to engage with our collective student cohort and faculty—a relationship and open-line of communication for participants that will excitedly continue beyond the workshop.”