TA23-S O-Pages - Flipbook - Page 26
Review
Alex Lahti is an urban planner and landscape designer
based in Houston. He is currently pursuing a Master
of Architecture degree at the University of Houston,
where he studies the strategic reuse of mid-century
buildings and landscapes.
“INTERNAL” features work by Eric Owen Moss,
Morphosis, and MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects.
24 Texas Architect
9/10 2023
PHOTOS COURTESY APPLIED RESEARCH AND DESIGN PUBLISHING
At the end of our discussion, I introduced the
subject of the impending changes and innovations
that arti昀椀cial intelligence may bring to the architectural profession. Diehl laughed and replied
that while he never had any intention of linking
the two, in light of recent developments in AI he
would share that his 昀椀nal note on the subject was
this: Understanding architectural intentions and
language-based design strategies — their sources
and the ability to describe them verbally in ways
that clients, collaborators, and perhaps AI design
software can understand — are clearly valuable
skills. Each reader may choose to take away what
lessons or observations they wish from “INTERNAL” — and that is the speci昀椀c value of a book
project that starts with inquiry and leaves the
conclusions to the audience.
Since the publication of this book in 2021,
the topic of arti昀椀cial intelligence in design has
begun to take over the discussion of the future
of innovation in architectural practice. As I write
this book review, I 昀椀nd that I have become more
sympathetic to Diehl’s concerns and interests. If
much of architectural document production is
going to involve AI or algorithmically generated
strategies, what is the role of the human? Understanding the value of internal and external design
motivations will become more important for
practitioners who choose to embrace these tools.
Having better discussions about these motivations
and their intellectual and emotional approaches
will likely be how architects in the future distinguish the quality of their work. As software
becomes able to produce more competent documents with less labor from practitioners, it will in
fact be a practitioner’s ability to contribute to the
conceptual value of a building that will demonstrate their architectural skill. Diehl’s book and
interviews o昀昀er important insights into the value
of ideation, verbal design processes, and internal
and external motivations for design solutions. If
you would like to reach a better understanding
of these topics — or simply gain more insight
into the work of the architects interviewed — this
book is worth your time.