Xperimental Space
Lab of experimental architecture using artificial intelligence (AI)
Insta @xperimental_space
Based in Portugal
Education
Faculdade de Arquitectura U.T.L.
Notable Engagements
Speaker at Mindstone on "Imagine Our Future in Architecture with AI"
Artist Statement
Revolutionary Shift: Architecture with AI merges human creativity with computational power, transforming design and construction.
Generative Design: AI enables architects to input parameters (e.g., site, environment), generating optimized solutions for structure, sustainability, and aesthetics.
Sustainability: AI enhances sustainability by providing insights on materials, climate, and energy, suggesting eco-friendly materials and designs.
User Experience: AI can analyze user interactions, adjusting elements like lighting and temperature for improved comfort.
Human + Machine: AI and human creativity together lead to innovative, sustainable buildings responsive to societal needs.
What inspired you to become an artist?
Architects are often inspired to explore art as a complementary discipline due to the inherent overlap between architecture and artistic expression. Both fields focus on creativity, form, and aesthetics, allowing architects to enhance their design practice through artistic endeavors.
One key source of inspiration for me in pursuing art is the desire to express ideas and emotions more freely. While architecture is often constrained by functionality, building codes, and client requirements, art allows for unfettered exploration of abstract concepts, personal vision, and experimental forms. This freedom enables architects to push boundaries and gain a deeper understanding of spatial relationships, materials, and light, which in turn informs their architectural work.
Additionally, art offers architects a medium to visualize and communicate complex ideas in ways that traditional architectural drawings may not. Sketching, painting, and sculpture provide tools for exploring form and space dynamically, often leading to innovations in architectural design. The works of visionary architects like Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid, and Frank Gehry illustrate how blending art with architecture results in iconic, fluid, and expressive buildings.
How does your cultural background influence your work?
Cultural background plays a pivotal role in shaping an architect’s vision, influencing design choices, materials, and spatial concepts. Architects draw from the traditions, values, and aesthetics of their culture, embedding them into the fabric of their buildings. For instance, Japanese architecture reflects principles of minimalism and harmony with nature, rooted in Zen philosophy, while Moroccan architecture showcases intricate tilework and courtyards, inspired by Islamic art and communal living.
Cultural influences also guide how architects respond to local climates, social structures, and historical contexts. In places like India, passive cooling techniques and open courtyards are informed by cultural adaptations to hot climates. Similarly, vernacular architecture often incorporates local customs, rituals, and community needs.
In essence, an architect’s cultural background not only shapes their creative vision but also grounds their designs in the historical, social, and environmental realities of the region.
How do you see AI influencing the future of architecture?
AI’s role in architecture is transformative, enabling architects to push the boundaries of design, sustainability, and user experience. Through generative design, AI can quickly produce multiple design options based on set parameters, allowing for greater efficiency and creativity in the early stages of a project. This not only saves time but also enhances the quality of design, as architects can experiment with a variety of solutions.
Furthermore, AI has immense potential in advancing sustainable practices. By analyzing data on energy, climate, and materials, it can guide architects toward eco-friendly solutions that minimize environmental impact. AI technology also makes construction safer and more efficient, reducing waste and human error, thus contributing to the sustainability of both the process and the end product.
In the future, AI-driven architecture will create spaces that are not only functional and aesthetically pleasing but also adaptive to the needs of their users. This fusion of human creativity with machine intelligence offers limitless potential to redefine what’s possible in architecture, making buildings that are as innovative and sustainable as they are responsive to society's needs.
What's the most valuable lesson you've learned as an artist?
One of the most valuable lessons architects learn from being artists is the importance of creative freedom and expression. Art teaches architects to think beyond the constraints of functionality, building codes, and technical requirements, allowing them to explore form, color, texture, and space with more fluidity and imagination.
This creative exploration sharpens an architect’s ability to conceptualize bold, innovative designs while developing a deeper appreciation for aesthetics and emotional impact. Through art, architects learn to communicate complex ideas visually, fostering a greater sense of intuition and sensitivity in their work.
Moreover, the artistic process encourages experimentation and risk-taking, which can lead to breakthroughs in architecture. It also nurtures a deeper connection to the human experience, enabling architects to design spaces that resonate on emotional, cultural, and aesthetic levels. Ultimately, art enriches an architect’s design practice by blending creativity with structure.\
How does creating with AI differ from traditional architectural design?
Working with AI adds a new dimension to the design process. Traditional architecture often relies on a sequential, linear approach—research, conceptual design, development, and refinement. With AI, however, the process becomes iterative and fluid. Architects can experiment with countless design options and explore variations in real time, guided by specific parameters or goals.
Additionally, AI allows architects to solve complex design challenges by generating solutions based on data and predictive modeling. It provides insights on sustainability, energy efficiency, and material usage in ways that manual calculations cannot match. This partnership with AI transforms architecture into a collaborative process, where human intuition and machine intelligence come together to create spaces that are both innovative and sustainable. It’s an exciting evolution that broadens the possibilities of what architecture can achieve.