LFU:online

>>Resilient Topologies: Artificial Natures and Extreme Habitats<<

ioud- Institute of Urban Design

Learning Outcome

This course explores resilient habitat architecture at the intersection of artificial intelligence, computational design, and digital fabrication. Within the course structure, students will take part in the DAD W1 Workshop, a BIP Erasmus program in collaboration with the Universities of Granada and Bratislava.

Students will:

• Design resilient architecture for extreme climates, exploring glacial environments, artificial natures, and the fringes of the Technosphere as sites of intervention.
• Utilize AI as a speculative design tool, generating non-anthropocentric forms and challenging typological conventions.
• Develop 3D-printed clay prototypes, testing fabrication strategies that respond to adverse weather conditions.
• Investigate planetary interactions by designing within the five natural spheres (Lithosphere, Atmosphere, Biosphere, Hydrosphere, and Cryosphere) and their tension with the Technosphere (Haff).

By the end of the semester, students will have designed, digitally simulated, and physically prototyped architectural solutions that engage with planetary-scale systems and emergent materialities.

As climate change destabilizes environmental conditions, architecture must move beyond traditional typologies to develop adaptive, performative, and symbiotic habitats. This course treats architecture as an emergent system—one that negotiates between artificial intelligence, planetary hyperobjects (Morton), and digital fabrication.

The DAD W1 Workshop component (held in collaboration with Granada and Bratislava) will focus on extreme climate resilience and 3D-printed clay architectures, supporting the studio's broader research framework.

The course will be structured around three thematic investigations:

• AI-generated morphologies → Using MidJourney, RunwayML, and Stable Diffusion for speculative form-finding.
• Generative AI as a non-anthropocentric tool → Producing architectures that do not rely on human-designed precedents.
• Training AI on planetary datasets → Extracting forms and material strategies from glacial movements, geological formations, and atmospheric phenomena.

• Designing for adverse weather conditions → Investigating resilient spatial configurations for glaciers, permafrost, and post-industrial landscapes.
• Planetary material flows → How can architecture mediate between natural and artificial systems?
• AI-driven tectonics → Speculating on new material assemblages beyond conventional architectural construction.

• Integration with the DAD W1 Workshop → Developing modular 3D-printed prototypes in clay.
• Computationally optimized material performance → Testing porosity, thermal insulation, and structural stability in extreme weather.
• Prototyping adaptive morphologies → Fabricating climate-responsive shelter systems through digital design.

The course employs an iterative, research-driven methodology, integrating speculative AI design, computational modeling, and experimental material prototyping.

• Climate change as a hyperobject (Morton) → Architecture as an agent within planetary-scale systems.
• The Technosphere (Haff) → Examining architecture’s entanglement with human-made material flows.

• AI-assisted design workshops → Using MidJourney, RunwayML, and Stable Diffusion.
• Cross-disciplinary training datasets → AI models informed by geomorphology, biological adaptation, and atmospheric science.

• 3D printing with clay in extreme climates → Testing material performance in cold and humid environments.
• Developing modular prototypes → Investigating porous geometries, biodegradable composites, and structural optimization.

• Hands-on experience in digital fabrication → Participants engage in real-world prototyping of climate-adaptive structures.
• Collaboration with Granada & Bratislava teams → Multi-university peer learning and exchange of computational strategies.

• AI-generated speculative architectures → Digital models and AI-trained visualizations.
• Fabricated prototypes → 3D-printed modules demonstrating AI-driven material agency.

Lehrveranstaltungsprüfung gemäß § 7 Satzungsteil, Studienrechtliche Bestimmungen.

Wird im Rahmen der ersten Lehrveranstaltung besprochen.

Informationen zur Anmeldung zu den Entwurfsstudio Lehrveranstaltungen finden Sie unter: https://www.uibk.ac.at/fakultaeten-servicestelle/standorte/technikerstrasse/studium.html/