rocker-lange blog

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

Christian J. Lange, Assistant Professor of Architecture is currently co-organizing a symposium entitled 2020: Housing China. The symposium will be held at the Department of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong on May 10&11 2013.

China’s urban population will increase in the next twenty years from about 50 % at present to almost 70% by 2030. With an estimated 300 million people moving to the city by 2020, China will change from a rural into an urban society. This transformation will influence the environment and habitation patterns of almost a quarter of the nation’s population. This rapid urbanization will not only have a significant impact on material resources, the society and the environment, it will also initiate the most prominent housing laboratory in human history challenging designers, planners and builders alike.

As a socio-political microcosm, Hong Kong has been dealing with the impacts of hyper-dense urban environments since the mid-twentieth century. During the past three decades the city has been also an active player in the development of China’s housing through various public and private initiatives. The essential questions are: What are the models at hand and is Hong Kong the right model for China? What are the alternative options and how can we make a difference through critical review and proposition?

The housing symposium entitled ” 2020: Housing China ” will explore issues related to these questions with a focus on housing typology, urban models, and their social and urban implications. Invited architects and scholars from Hong Kong, China, Asia and Europe will review and present collective housing developments within a historical and contextual framework. The symposium will provide a platform for shaping discourses and propositions on how architecture can be spatially and socially proactive by maintaining sustainable and innovative living environments for China in the 21st century.

10-11 May 2013,
KB419, 4/F Knowles Building, The University of Hong Kong

Panel 1: Perspectives | Contexts
10 May 2013, 13:30 – 18:30
William S.W. Lim 林少偉 – Professor, Singapore
Huang Yi-ru 黃一如– Professor, Tongi University, Shanghai
Gu Daqing 顧大慶– Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Carolin Fong Suet Yuen 方雪原 – Director, Dennis Lau & Ng Chun Man Architects & Engineers (HK) Ltd, Hong Kong
John Ng 伍灼宜 – Former Chief Architect, Hong Kong Housing Authority, Hong Kong

Panel 2: Density | Scale | Typology
11 May 2013, 9:30 – 13:30
Dietmar Eberle – Professor, ETH Zurich, Faculty of Architecture; Shareholder, Baumschlager Eberle Group, Lochau Austria
Li Xinggang 李興鋼 – Chief Architect, China Architecture Design and Research Institute, Beijing
Meng Yan 孟岩 – Principal, Urbanus, Shenzhen
Keiichiro Sako 迫慶一郎 – Principal, SAKO Architects, Tokyo / Beijing

Panel 3: Urban Housing | Housing the City
11 May 2013, 14:30 – 18:30
Winy Maas – Professor Delft University; Principal MVRDV, Rotterdam
Dong Yi 董屹 – Partner, DC Alliance, Shanghai
Khoo Peng Beng 邱彬銘– Partner, Arc Studio. Architecture + Urbanism, Singapore
Qian Yuan 錢源 – Director, Vanke Wanchuang Design Management Center

For more information please visit: http://fac.arch.hku.hk/event/spring-2013-housing-symposium-2020-housing-china/