(University of the Philippines)
Nurturing Innovation: Bridging the Academia and the Public through a Research Center for Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented rate and has recently captured the masses’ imagination with accessible tools like DALL-E, Midjourney, and ChatGPT. There is an exponentially increasing demand for innovation in this field and we cannot discount the role that architecture plays in this pursuit, in spite of the AI’s seemingly remote nature, appearing to be disengaged with the physical realm. The Research Center for Artificial Intelligence is a facility that bridges various parties involved in the inspiring and implementing innovation in AI in the context of the Philippines.
The Research Center for AI reopens an area within the city that is divorced from the urban fabric to engage with the public and neighboring communities. It is also designed with the aid of three AI tools: OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 and ChatGPT, and Autodesk’s Spacemaker. The programming was augmented by ChatGPT, design translation with DALL-E, and the massing study was produced by Spacemaker. While the human aspect in design was still central in this affair, the architectural form was maintained in a state that communicates the intervention of AI in the creative process. The Research Center has facilities that support technological innovation and also doubles as a public space to also inspire creativity among passers-by and nearby communities in this academic zone of the city.