rocker-lange blog

We’re pleased to share that Christian J. Lange and Mono Tung’s collaborative MArch research studio, conducted in Fall 2023 within the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong, has been featured in the latest issue of the HKIA Journal. The studio focused on AI-driven design strategies for the renewal of aging public housing estates in Hong Kong.

Their article, “Reimagining Choi Hung Estate: AI’s Role in Future Public Housing Design,” highlights innovative design methodologies that leverage artificial intelligence to reimagine one of the city’s most iconic housing developments. The piece explores how tools such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion were integrated into the architectural design process, enabling students to generate speculative yet contextually grounded proposals.

Addressing key issues of urban renewal, housing density, and community identity, the studio demonstrates how computational design—when paired with cultural sensitivity—can offer a forward-thinking model for the future of public housing in Hong Kong and beyond.

To read the full article, please go here:
HKIA Journal – Issue 80

We’re excited to share a recent feature on RTHK titled “Reimagining Hong Kong – AI Everywhere: What ideas do HKU architecture students and professors have for redeveloping Choi Hung Estate? And how does AI help?” The segment highlights the work of Christian J. Lange and his architecture students at the University of Hong Kong, showcasing how artificial intelligence is being used as a creative and analytical tool in rethinking the future of one of Hong Kong’s most iconic public housing estates. Through this lens, the feature explores how emerging technologies are shaping new possibilities for urban renewal and design innovation in the city.

Please visit youtube to watch the entire feature:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vEwft3qK-c

I am very happy to be part of the upcoming 1-Day symposium on AI in Sharjah, UAE. The Interrogating Intelligence in Artificial Architecture symposium will be hosted by AUS’s Department of Architecture on Sunday, March 9th.

Interrogating Intelligence in Artificial Architecture

Date: Sunday, March 9
Time: 1-4 p.m.
Venue: AUS Main Building, Lecture Hall B

As the efficacy of artificial intelligence develops and its use and application becomes more widespread, academia and industry are bracing for significant change. AI is not going away and it will get smarter. The question design educators are facing is not “if” but “how” to incorporate artificial intelligence into the classroom. CAAD is committed to lead the discussion on developing an ethical, generative pedagogy that propels our students toward cutting-edge design technologies and careers. This symposium intends to probe the limits and infinitude of machine learning’s impact on the built environment. The panel comprises leading researchers, educators, practitioners and industry leaders who have been using AI to rethink architectural design and production in various ways. The event will feature five presentations on the use of AI with regard to architectural design and education followed by a moderated discussion.

Presenters / Panelists:
Omran Alowais, Founder ARDH
George Guida, Architag / Harvard GSD
Anna Wanyu He, CEO of xKool / Lookx
Andy Shaw, Principal – AMA Design Dubai
Christian J. Lange, The University of Hong Kong

Moderator: Marcus Farr, American University of Sharjah

We are happy to announce that Christian J. Lange will deliver a lecture as part of Shenzhen University’s ‘Contemporary Architecture Frontier’ 2024 | Artificial and Intelligence series.

The series of lectures for the ‘Contemporary Architecture Frontier’ postgraduate demonstration course at Shenzhen University, under the guidance of ‘International Vision’ and ‘Youth Vanguard’, has built a platform for theoretical construction and practical analysis of architectural design and urban construction in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Over the past three semesters, this course has focused on hot topics including history, philosophy, art, urban and rural renewal, digital cities, and Shenzhen experiments, inviting more than 70 high-level experts, scholars, and architects from domestic and international brother schools and the industry, and has held more than 20 frontier academic lectures and dialogues.

Against the backdrop of the industry where the future of architecture and cities has sparked widespread discussion, the theme of this semester’s course is ‘Artificial and Intelligence – Architecture Towards the Future’. On the one hand, it explores the academic frontier where emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, robots, and metaverse intersect with architecture. At the same time, it attempts to seek the genuine power of ‘anti-AI’ architectural design creation in the era of change, and plans to invite pioneering scholars from home and abroad to try to discuss the new ideas, new theories, and new practices in the architectural industry under the ‘planning design – construction interaction’ full industry chain from two distinct paths, focusing on generative design of urban architecture, intelligent or traditional construction methods, and information interaction between machines and humans or nature and humans, and to carry out knowledge sharing and academic speculation on the transformation of architecture and cities.

Lecture Abstract:

From Standard to Non-Standard Standards：New modes of production in Architecture

In Architecture, the concept of standardization has had a profound impact on the built environment. In a sense, standardization has been the essence of all economic developments and rapid urbanization since the early 20th century. However, computational tools and CAD/CAM methods developed in the past two decades have given architects a loophole to escape the mandate for standardization. Robotic fabrication and 3D printing are the latest ingredients in the modern toolbox of an architect, promising the world more specificity for the same price. The next big thing is already on the horizon. AI has emerged at light speed as a powerful new tool out of nowhere and is here to stay to shake up the world of Architecture as we know it. This lecture explores this transformation from standard solutions to a world that might give a renaissance to arts and crafts with a digital twist. Drawing from personal research conducted at the Robotic Fabrication Lab at HKU, the presentation delves into innovative projects that depart from traditional standardization approaches and try to offer new solutions with the aim towards non-standard Standards.

Lecture Time and Location:

Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 19:00, Room C205
School of Architecture & Urban Planning,SZU
Address: 3688 Nanhai Avenue, Nanhai District,Shenzhen

We’re excited to share the upcoming discussion series “Critical Disruptions,” organized by Christian J. Lange at the University of Hong Kong. This series of talks will explore the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence in architecture and its potential to critically reshape the discipline and the architect’s role within it.

Abstract:
Computational tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) are advancing fast and becoming more accessible to the industry of Architecture. Since 2022, the profession has witnessed an extraordinary development on architectural representations with applications, such as Midjourney, Dall-E, or Stable Diffusion. A recent RIBA report disclosed that 41% of all UK architects are already using AI in their daily work. The question at stake is whether AI is just another tool at hand in creating architecture, or whether it is, as some say, a disruption to the industry, shaking up the very definition of the role of the architect.

Last semester, the studio “Vary (Strong) | Upcycling public housing via AI” taught by Christian J. Lange and Mono Tung started a first discussion in the Department of Architecture at HKU on how to utilize AI in the discipline. The studio generated some very innovative outcomes by developing novel methods in the design process with the help of AI.

The “Critical disruption” discussion series is a next step in bringing attention to the subject by inviting some architects and designers who have dedicated their work and research in recent years to the subject of AI and to advance its usage in the profession.

Organized by
Christian J. Lange

Moderator
Adeline Chan
AI Researcher & Project Associate, Department of Architecture

Discussant
Christian J. Lange
Director of the Fabrication and Material Technologies Lab and Associate Professor (Teaching), Department of Architecture

Discussion Schedule:

Tim Fu 傅倜龍, CEO, Studio Tim Fu (London)
Friday, 12 April 2024, 6:00–8:00pm

Hamid Hassanzadeh, Founder, Parametric Architecture
Tuesday, 16 April 2024, 6:00–8:00pm

Hao Zheng 鄭豪, Director, Architectural Intelligence Group (AIG)
KB419 Lecture Hall, 4/F Knowles Building, HKU
Wednesday, 17 April 2024, 12:30–2:00pm

Carlos Banon, Architect, Associate Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Design, SUTD
Thursday, 18 April 2024, 6:00–8:00pm

Wanyu He 何宛余, Founder and CEO, XKool
KB730 Lecture Hall, 7/F Knowles Building, HKU
Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 1:00–2:30pm

Arturo Tedeschi, Director, Studio Arturo Tedeschi
Thursday, 9 May 2024, 6:00–7:00pm

For more information, please use link below.
https://www.arch.hku.hk/event_/critical-disruptions/?page_num=10