Part I: AI in Architecture
START
State Of the Industry
Information current as of Q1 2026. AI tools in architecture are evolving rapidly. Specific products, capabilities, and pricing referenced here reflect the state of the field at the time of writing and may have changed since publication. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recognizes AI as 'a transformative force that will reshape the future of architecture and architectural practice.' Per the AIA's October 2025 Guidance for the Responsible Use of AI: AI is a design support tool — not a replacement for professional judgment. Architects remain accountable for all work products, decisions, and representations.
A Note on Tools
NYIT is not endorsing any specific tools or companies. The tools shown throughout this module are representative examples chosen to illustrate categories of AI capability in architecture today. The field is evolving rapidly; alternatives exist in every category, and new tools appear regularly. The goal is to understand the types of capability reshaping practice, not to prescribe a specific software stack.
Durable Competencies
The tools in this module will change. The following competencies will not:
• Evaluate AI output critically: Know when the output is useful, misleading, or fabricated.
• Maintain professional judgment: The discipline is to keep asking whether the AI's output serves the design, the client, and the public interest.
• Direct AI research & verify: Ask the right questions, recognize incomplete answers, and confirm against authoritative sources.
• Communicate accountability: Every document that leaves your desk with your name on it is your professional communication.
• Adapt using transferable frameworks: Apply decision frameworks to new tools as they emerge.
Research
AI compresses weeks of research into a single session — and the architects who learn to direct it will make better-informed decisions, faster.
Research
Research Workflows
- AI can mix code editions across jurisdictions without flagging the discrepancy
- Product specs might be discontinued or hallucinated
- Always verify against the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) and manufacturers
- Start with a clear but open question
- Let the tool ask clarifying questions (time period, geography, etc.)
- Narrow the scope using your architectural expertise
- Push deeper on what's interesting from the structured results
- Tools like ChatGPT Deep Research or Claude
- Can perform multi-step research with clarifying questions
- Best for complex, scoped research like precedent studies or spatial analysis
- Tools like Perplexity
- Optimized for finding and citing sources
- Best for factual questions, product searches and code lookup
Conversational AI / Deep Research
Iterative Prompting
Dedicated Research Tools
The Verification Gap
Tools in Action: Research
Unit 1 Example Prompts
Prompt 1: What are notable examples of mass timber residential buildings in seismically active regions? I'm looking for mid-rise (5–8 stories), completed projects. Include the structural system used and any press coverage about their seismic performance.
Prompt 2: What are the ADA requirements for accessible restrooms in a commercial office building? Give me the specific clearances, grab bar positions, and fixture heights from the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
Click the images to view fullscreen.
Tools in Action: Research
Unit 1 Example Prompts
Knowledge Check
Concept
AI lets you explore more of the design space than you could ever sketch by hand — the new skill is knowing which directions have real spatial potential.
Concept Generation Strategies
Concept Workflows
- Branch an existing image outward: test different angles, swap materials
- Brings depth to a chosen concept
- Tools like Midjourney
- Describe program, mood, and context in words
- Divergent exploration to browse the possibility space without drawing
- AI-generated concepts look convincing but have no plan, section or structure
- If you can't sketch a plan of what the AI showed you, you don't have a design
- Tools like Vizcom
- Draw a rough sketch and let AI develop it with light, material, and atmosphere
- Tests whether your spatial idea holds up visually
Visual vs. Spatial Intelligence
Sketch to First Concept
Blue-Sky Ideation
Image Exploration
Tools in Action: Concept
Unit 2 Example Prompts & Demos
Vizcom Demo
Prompt 1: Midjourney: Exterior architectural rendering based on the provided sketch, transforming the roof gesture into a modern pavilion. Minimal material palette, light concrete structure, smooth metal roof, large glass openings beneath the canopy. Calm daylight, soft shadows, clean horizon, realistic scale, refined contemporary architecture.
Tools in Action: Concept
Unit 2 Example Screenshots
Midjourney
Vizcom
Knowledge Check
Rendering / Postproduction
AI is collapsing the time and cost of architectural presentation — putting visualization quality that once required specialist teams within reach of any practitioner.
The Ai presentation Pipeline
Rendering / Postproduction Workflows
- A polished rendering can make an underdeveloped design feel finished
- Renderings without resolved plans are decorations
- Transparency with clients about unresolved geometry is an ethical obligation
- Tools like Chaos Veras
- Apply style direction and atmosphere directly to 3D models (SketchUp, Revit, Rhino)
- Skips the slow middle of rendering setup for fast visual feedback
- Tools like Runway, Vizcom, Gemini
- Generates a 4-10 second walkthrough impression from a single still image
- Watch out: motions can drift into architecturally nonsensical results
- Tools like Nano Banana (Photoshop plugin)
- Takes any 2D image and automates entourage, atmosphere, and compositing
- Reclaims hours of tedious postproduction labor
AI Postproduction
The Seduction Risk
AI-Assisted Rendering
AI Animation
Tools in Action: Rendering
Unit 3 Example Prompts
Prompt 1: Veras Style Prompt: "Overcast winter sky, snow on ground, corten steel facade, warm interior lighting."
Knowledge Check
AI-Generated 3D Models
AI can now generate 3D geometry from an image, sketch, or text description — but what you get is a mesh, not a model. Understanding the difference is essential.
Image to 3D Workflows
AI-Generated Workflows
- Tools like Tripo, Meshy, Vizcom 3D
- Takes a 2d render or text prompt and outputs a textured 3D mesh (GLB/OBJ) in seconds
- Excellent for populating scenes with furniture, vehicles, or site elements
- What you get: Visualization-grade rotatable objects
- What you don't get: Dimensional accuracy, CAD constraints, or structural logic
- Do not substitute for accurate BIM models in production
- Importing an AI-generated 3D mesh into Rhino tests your 2D concepts
- If the 3D version looks broken, the 2D concept lacked spatial depth
Rapid Context Generation
Conceptual Reality Check
Mesh vs. Model
Tools in Action: 3D Meshes
Unit 4 Example Prompts
Prompt 1: Tripo prompt: "Modern lounge chair with walnut frame and ivory boucle upholstery."
Prompt 2: Meshy conversion: [Uploaded Midjourney facade render for depth extraction]
Knowledge Check
Footnote
The workflows covered so far are discrete steps. But what happens when you chain them together?Tools like **ComfyUI** and **Weavy** use node-based visual programming (similar to Grasshopper) to automate generative AI pipelines. Changing one node—such as a single seed image—can automatically rerun styling, upscaling, editing, and 3D generation across an entire dataset. This represents a shift from treating AI as a 'creative toy' to a parameterized, version-controlled design system.
Extract Material
Click on image to enlarge
Egress and life safety: Under IBC 2021, how do I calculate the required number of exits and egress width for an assembly occupancy space with 450 occupants on the second floor? Walk me through the calculation step by step, including stair width and corridor width. Accessibility requirements: What are the ADA requirements for accessible restrooms in a commercial office building? Give me the specific clearances, grab bar positions, and fixture heights from the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
Code & Zoning Research
Perplexity
Zoning bulk and setback questions: What are the current FAR limits, height restrictions, and required setbacks for a lot zoned R7A in New York City? Also explain what the Quality Housing Program is and whether it's mandatory or optional in this zone.
Extract Materials
Comparing products across manufacturers: Compare acoustic ceiling tile systems from Armstrong, Rockfon, and Hunter Douglas. I need NRC ratings above 0.85, panels that work with exposed suspension grids, and options available in custom colors. Give me a comparison table with dimensions, NRC, fire rating, and lead time. Finding sustainable material alternatives: What are currently available bio-based insulation products that can replace XPS foam board in below-grade foundation applications? I need R-value per inch, moisture resistance data, and whether they have ICC-ES evaluation reports.
Product Sourcing
Perplexity
Finding products by performance criteria: I'm specifying an exterior curtain wall for a building in Miami. I need hurricane-rated aluminum curtain wall systems that meet ASCE 7 wind load requirements for Exposure Category D. Give me manufacturers, specific product lines, and the maximum span they support. Include pricing guidance if available.
Toolbar
Click on image to enlarge
Technology adoption research: How are mid-size architecture firms (50-150 people) currently using AI in their design workflows? I want real examples from firms that have publicly discussed this — conference talks, interviews, published case studies. Focus on firms doing building design, not computational design studios.
Extended Research
ChatGPT (Deep Research)
Turn on Deep Research mode for complex, multi-step questions where you want ChatGPT to ask you clarifying questions before diving in.
Precedent study with specific criteria: Give me examples of opera houses, performance halls, or other event venues that have been praised in the press and architectural press for their lobby space. This can be worldwide. Look for examples not only in English press.
Tips for Better Research Prompts
- Be specific about what you know — tell the tool your climate zone, building type, jurisdiction, or project phase. Context makes answers more useful.
- Ask for structure — request tables, comparisons, or organized lists instead of paragraphs. You'll extract more value.
- Name your sources — if you want code references, say which code (IBC 2021, not just "building code"). If you want press, say which kind.
- Iterate, don't restart — if the first answer is close but not right, refine your question in the same conversation. These tools get better with context.
- Verify everything — AI research compresses time, but the architect is still responsible for accuracy. Always check citations, code sections, and product specs against primary sources.
Building a project typology from examples: Here are descriptions of 8 recently completed co-working spaces [paste descriptions]. Analyze the spatial strategies being used. Group them into typologies based on how they organize individual work, collaboration, and social space. For each typology, tell me what kind of work culture it seems designed for. Summarizing a technical document: Here's a 40-page structural engineering report for a renovation project [paste or upload]. Summarize the key findings: what's the existing structural system, what are the main deficiencies identified, what interventions are recommended, and are there any constraints on the architectural design I need to know about? Research synthesis across multiple sources: I'm researching passive cooling strategies for a school building in a hot-dry climate (Phoenix, AZ). I've gathered these three sources [paste excerpts]. Synthesize the recommendations across all three. Where do they agree? Where do they contradict each other? What strategies would be most applicable to a 2-story elementary school with limited budget?
Synthesis & Analytical Research
Claude
Claude excels at working with large amounts of text you provide — long documents, multiple sources, or complex briefs — and producing structured, nuanced analysis.
Analyzing a design brief: Here's the competition brief for [project name] [paste full brief]. Extract and organize the following: the mandatory program requirements with areas, the stated design priorities, any site constraints mentioned, and the evaluation criteria. Flag anything that seems ambiguous or contradictory. Comparing precedents from your own research: I've collected notes on five courthouse projects I'm studying as precedents [paste notes]. For each one, identify the main circulation strategy, how they handle the separation of public/secure/judicial circulation, and where the main public space is located relative to the entry. Then compare them — what patterns do you see?
Edit Interface + 3D
Interface
3D Model
Upscale
Click on image to enlarge
Rhino
Click on image to enlarge
Subtle Variation
Click on image to enlarge
Upscaling
Click on image to enlarge
Prompt
Click on image to enlarge
Analyzing code implications for a specific design: I'm designing a 4-story mixed-use building with ground floor retail and residential above. The building is Type V-A construction under IBC 2021. What are my maximum allowable building height and area? Can I get any increases, and if so, how? Comparing code requirements across jurisdictions: Compare the energy code requirements for commercial building envelopes between ASHRAE 90.1-2019 (Climate Zone 4A) and NYC's Local Law 97. Where are the key differences a designer needs to watch for?
Code & Regulation Analysis
ChatGPT
Use ChatGPT (standard mode, not Deep Research) when you already have the code text or a specific regulation and need help interpreting it.
Interpreting a complex zoning provision: Here's Section 23-633 of the NYC Zoning Resolution [paste text]. Explain in plain language what this means for a mixed-use building on a corner lot in a C4-4A district. What's the maximum building height I can achieve, and what are the conditions?
Sketch to Render Ideation
Click on image to enlarge
Extract + Modify Workflow
Style Transfer Render
Click on image to enlarge
Render Node
Finding projects by program and climate: What are notable examples of mass timber residential buildings in seismically active regions? I'm looking for mid-rise (5-8 stories), completed projects. Include the structural system used and any press coverage about their seismic performance. Researching a specific building in depth: Tell me about Snohetta's Bibliotheca Alexandrina. What were the main design concepts, how was the roof structure engineered, and how has the building been received critically in both western and Egyptian architectural press?
Precedent Research
Perplexity
Finding projects by spatial quality: Find me built examples of public libraries completed after 2015 that are known for their reading rooms — specifically spaces with high ceilings, natural light from above, and timber structure. Include projects from Scandinavia, Japan, and North America. For each, give me the architect, year, city, and a brief description of the reading room.
Modify Node
Variation Node
Prompt Generation
Click on image to enlarge
Strong Variation
Click on image to enlarge
Variations
Click on image to enlarge
Extract Material + Render
Click on image to enlarge
Part I: AI in Architecture
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Transcript
Part I: AI in Architecture
START
State Of the Industry
Information current as of Q1 2026. AI tools in architecture are evolving rapidly. Specific products, capabilities, and pricing referenced here reflect the state of the field at the time of writing and may have changed since publication. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recognizes AI as 'a transformative force that will reshape the future of architecture and architectural practice.' Per the AIA's October 2025 Guidance for the Responsible Use of AI: AI is a design support tool — not a replacement for professional judgment. Architects remain accountable for all work products, decisions, and representations.
A Note on Tools
NYIT is not endorsing any specific tools or companies. The tools shown throughout this module are representative examples chosen to illustrate categories of AI capability in architecture today. The field is evolving rapidly; alternatives exist in every category, and new tools appear regularly. The goal is to understand the types of capability reshaping practice, not to prescribe a specific software stack.
Durable Competencies
The tools in this module will change. The following competencies will not:
• Evaluate AI output critically: Know when the output is useful, misleading, or fabricated.
• Maintain professional judgment: The discipline is to keep asking whether the AI's output serves the design, the client, and the public interest.
• Direct AI research & verify: Ask the right questions, recognize incomplete answers, and confirm against authoritative sources.
• Communicate accountability: Every document that leaves your desk with your name on it is your professional communication.
• Adapt using transferable frameworks: Apply decision frameworks to new tools as they emerge.
Research
AI compresses weeks of research into a single session — and the architects who learn to direct it will make better-informed decisions, faster.
Research
Research Workflows
Conversational AI / Deep Research
Iterative Prompting
Dedicated Research Tools
The Verification Gap
Tools in Action: Research
Unit 1 Example Prompts
Prompt 1: What are notable examples of mass timber residential buildings in seismically active regions? I'm looking for mid-rise (5–8 stories), completed projects. Include the structural system used and any press coverage about their seismic performance.
Prompt 2: What are the ADA requirements for accessible restrooms in a commercial office building? Give me the specific clearances, grab bar positions, and fixture heights from the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
Click the images to view fullscreen.
Tools in Action: Research
Unit 1 Example Prompts
Knowledge Check
Concept
AI lets you explore more of the design space than you could ever sketch by hand — the new skill is knowing which directions have real spatial potential.
Concept Generation Strategies
Concept Workflows
Visual vs. Spatial Intelligence
Sketch to First Concept
Blue-Sky Ideation
Image Exploration
Tools in Action: Concept
Unit 2 Example Prompts & Demos
Vizcom Demo
Prompt 1: Midjourney: Exterior architectural rendering based on the provided sketch, transforming the roof gesture into a modern pavilion. Minimal material palette, light concrete structure, smooth metal roof, large glass openings beneath the canopy. Calm daylight, soft shadows, clean horizon, realistic scale, refined contemporary architecture.
Tools in Action: Concept
Unit 2 Example Screenshots
Midjourney
Vizcom
Knowledge Check
Rendering / Postproduction
AI is collapsing the time and cost of architectural presentation — putting visualization quality that once required specialist teams within reach of any practitioner.
The Ai presentation Pipeline
Rendering / Postproduction Workflows
AI Postproduction
The Seduction Risk
AI-Assisted Rendering
AI Animation
Tools in Action: Rendering
Unit 3 Example Prompts
Prompt 1: Veras Style Prompt: "Overcast winter sky, snow on ground, corten steel facade, warm interior lighting."
Knowledge Check
AI-Generated 3D Models
AI can now generate 3D geometry from an image, sketch, or text description — but what you get is a mesh, not a model. Understanding the difference is essential.
Image to 3D Workflows
AI-Generated Workflows
Rapid Context Generation
Conceptual Reality Check
Mesh vs. Model
Tools in Action: 3D Meshes
Unit 4 Example Prompts
Prompt 1: Tripo prompt: "Modern lounge chair with walnut frame and ivory boucle upholstery."
Prompt 2: Meshy conversion: [Uploaded Midjourney facade render for depth extraction]
Knowledge Check
Footnote
The workflows covered so far are discrete steps. But what happens when you chain them together?Tools like **ComfyUI** and **Weavy** use node-based visual programming (similar to Grasshopper) to automate generative AI pipelines. Changing one node—such as a single seed image—can automatically rerun styling, upscaling, editing, and 3D generation across an entire dataset. This represents a shift from treating AI as a 'creative toy' to a parameterized, version-controlled design system.
Extract Material
Click on image to enlarge
Egress and life safety: Under IBC 2021, how do I calculate the required number of exits and egress width for an assembly occupancy space with 450 occupants on the second floor? Walk me through the calculation step by step, including stair width and corridor width. Accessibility requirements: What are the ADA requirements for accessible restrooms in a commercial office building? Give me the specific clearances, grab bar positions, and fixture heights from the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design.
Code & Zoning Research
Perplexity
Zoning bulk and setback questions: What are the current FAR limits, height restrictions, and required setbacks for a lot zoned R7A in New York City? Also explain what the Quality Housing Program is and whether it's mandatory or optional in this zone.
Extract Materials
Comparing products across manufacturers: Compare acoustic ceiling tile systems from Armstrong, Rockfon, and Hunter Douglas. I need NRC ratings above 0.85, panels that work with exposed suspension grids, and options available in custom colors. Give me a comparison table with dimensions, NRC, fire rating, and lead time. Finding sustainable material alternatives: What are currently available bio-based insulation products that can replace XPS foam board in below-grade foundation applications? I need R-value per inch, moisture resistance data, and whether they have ICC-ES evaluation reports.
Product Sourcing
Perplexity
Finding products by performance criteria: I'm specifying an exterior curtain wall for a building in Miami. I need hurricane-rated aluminum curtain wall systems that meet ASCE 7 wind load requirements for Exposure Category D. Give me manufacturers, specific product lines, and the maximum span they support. Include pricing guidance if available.
Toolbar
Click on image to enlarge
Technology adoption research: How are mid-size architecture firms (50-150 people) currently using AI in their design workflows? I want real examples from firms that have publicly discussed this — conference talks, interviews, published case studies. Focus on firms doing building design, not computational design studios.
Extended Research
ChatGPT (Deep Research)
Turn on Deep Research mode for complex, multi-step questions where you want ChatGPT to ask you clarifying questions before diving in.
Precedent study with specific criteria: Give me examples of opera houses, performance halls, or other event venues that have been praised in the press and architectural press for their lobby space. This can be worldwide. Look for examples not only in English press.
Tips for Better Research Prompts
Building a project typology from examples: Here are descriptions of 8 recently completed co-working spaces [paste descriptions]. Analyze the spatial strategies being used. Group them into typologies based on how they organize individual work, collaboration, and social space. For each typology, tell me what kind of work culture it seems designed for. Summarizing a technical document: Here's a 40-page structural engineering report for a renovation project [paste or upload]. Summarize the key findings: what's the existing structural system, what are the main deficiencies identified, what interventions are recommended, and are there any constraints on the architectural design I need to know about? Research synthesis across multiple sources: I'm researching passive cooling strategies for a school building in a hot-dry climate (Phoenix, AZ). I've gathered these three sources [paste excerpts]. Synthesize the recommendations across all three. Where do they agree? Where do they contradict each other? What strategies would be most applicable to a 2-story elementary school with limited budget?
Synthesis & Analytical Research
Claude
Claude excels at working with large amounts of text you provide — long documents, multiple sources, or complex briefs — and producing structured, nuanced analysis.
Analyzing a design brief: Here's the competition brief for [project name] [paste full brief]. Extract and organize the following: the mandatory program requirements with areas, the stated design priorities, any site constraints mentioned, and the evaluation criteria. Flag anything that seems ambiguous or contradictory. Comparing precedents from your own research: I've collected notes on five courthouse projects I'm studying as precedents [paste notes]. For each one, identify the main circulation strategy, how they handle the separation of public/secure/judicial circulation, and where the main public space is located relative to the entry. Then compare them — what patterns do you see?
Edit Interface + 3D
Interface
3D Model
Upscale
Click on image to enlarge
Rhino
Click on image to enlarge
Subtle Variation
Click on image to enlarge
Upscaling
Click on image to enlarge
Prompt
Click on image to enlarge
Analyzing code implications for a specific design: I'm designing a 4-story mixed-use building with ground floor retail and residential above. The building is Type V-A construction under IBC 2021. What are my maximum allowable building height and area? Can I get any increases, and if so, how? Comparing code requirements across jurisdictions: Compare the energy code requirements for commercial building envelopes between ASHRAE 90.1-2019 (Climate Zone 4A) and NYC's Local Law 97. Where are the key differences a designer needs to watch for?
Code & Regulation Analysis
ChatGPT
Use ChatGPT (standard mode, not Deep Research) when you already have the code text or a specific regulation and need help interpreting it.
Interpreting a complex zoning provision: Here's Section 23-633 of the NYC Zoning Resolution [paste text]. Explain in plain language what this means for a mixed-use building on a corner lot in a C4-4A district. What's the maximum building height I can achieve, and what are the conditions?
Sketch to Render Ideation
Click on image to enlarge
Extract + Modify Workflow
Style Transfer Render
Click on image to enlarge
Render Node
Finding projects by program and climate: What are notable examples of mass timber residential buildings in seismically active regions? I'm looking for mid-rise (5-8 stories), completed projects. Include the structural system used and any press coverage about their seismic performance. Researching a specific building in depth: Tell me about Snohetta's Bibliotheca Alexandrina. What were the main design concepts, how was the roof structure engineered, and how has the building been received critically in both western and Egyptian architectural press?
Precedent Research
Perplexity
Finding projects by spatial quality: Find me built examples of public libraries completed after 2015 that are known for their reading rooms — specifically spaces with high ceilings, natural light from above, and timber structure. Include projects from Scandinavia, Japan, and North America. For each, give me the architect, year, city, and a brief description of the reading room.
Modify Node
Variation Node
Prompt Generation
Click on image to enlarge
Strong Variation
Click on image to enlarge
Variations
Click on image to enlarge
Extract Material + Render
Click on image to enlarge