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Generative AI: limits and opportunities

Saleh Bansefat

Generative AI: limits and opportunities.

Rel. Massimiliano Lo Turco, Hans Sachs. Politecnico di Torino, Corso di laurea magistrale in Architettura Per Il Patrimonio, 2025

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Abstract:

This thesis investigates the possibilities and boundaries of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to conceptual reinterpret Iranian neighbourhoods (Mahallehs) in the regime of vertical housing. Contemporary Iranian cities are characterized by urban densification and widespread application of high-rise housing, which often produces placeless environments that do not respect cultural identity, social bonds, and climatic appropriateness. Conversely, the old Mahalleh embodied socio-spatial notions such as hierarchy, privacy, communal interaction, and responsiveness to the environment. This research therefore asked: to what degree, and with what constraints, can new urban settings re-elaborate these notions using generative AI? The study applied a design-based methodology combining cultural grounding, iterative prompt engineering with Midjourney, and a systematic evaluation framework of eight categories that emerged from principles in everyday life. The process was intentionally situated in the conceptual design stage, emphasizing AI as a conceptual collaborator rather than replacing architectural thought. Results indicated a two-fold outcome. On the one hand, AI achieved rapid iteration, producing atmospheric pictures with legible vernacular signs of courtyard-like emptiness, iwans, rhythmic facades, and references to passive climatic strategies. On the other hand, it consistently failed to replicate socio-spatial coherence, order of functions, human scale, and communal spaces, reducing cultural aspects to ornamentation. The thesis concludes that generative AI is best understood as a catalyst for architectural imagination. It can stimulate experimentation and provoke critical reflection, but it lacks the capacity to embed architectural meaning and socio-cultural logic without human mediation. Ultimately, the architect remains the indispensable interpreter and mediator, responsible for transforming AI’s speculative imagery into coherent and culturally grounded design directions.

Relatori: Massimiliano Lo Turco, Hans Sachs
Anno accademico: 2025/26
Tipo di pubblicazione: Elettronica
Numero di pagine: 170
Soggetti:
Corso di laurea: Corso di laurea magistrale in Architettura Per Il Patrimonio
Classe di laurea: Nuovo ordinamento > Laurea magistrale > LM-04 - ARCHITETTURA E INGEGNERIA EDILE-ARCHITETTURA
Ente in cotutela: Technical University of East Westphalia-Lippe (GERMANIA)
Aziende collaboratrici: NON SPECIFICATO
URI: http://webthesis.biblio.polito.it/id/eprint/36977
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