Usbek & Rica – Vietnam, Chile, Nigeria… The architecture of the future seen by Midjourney

Tired of always seeing the same thing on Instagram? This is the kind of content that should, for sure, diversify your timeline. In partnership with the architecture platform ArchDailythe Berlin designer collective Ulises launched a vast project to understand “ how artificial intelligence (AI) perceives contemporary housing in the context of 15 different countries ».

Published since April on with site d’ArchDaily et Ulises Instagram, the result takes the form of sumptuous images, often very colorful, sometimes strange but always intriguing. All were generated using the latest version of generative AI Midjourneyfrom commands reformulated several times (material indications, geographical coordinates, etc.) but “ without any post-production work ».

“Break with the hegemonic gaze”

As the architect Victor Delaqua tells in an article published on ArchDailyfor the mobilized teams, the first step was to enter an extremely basic command into Midjourney, which contained the following words: “ /imagine: contemporary house presented on the Archdaily website “. Result ? Impeccable but very homogeneous visuals, with very few variations in terms of materials and context “. And this for a simple reason: without contrary instruction, artificial intelligence tends to reproduce the existing without considering other possibilities.

In order to ” break with the hegemonic gaze present in software data ArchDaily and Ulises therefore tried to reproduce the experience, this time giving new indications to Midjourney. ” To this end, we have selected fifteen countries with distinct realities, featuring leading architecture studios in each of them. “, recounts Victor Delaqua. The whole ” by adding other compositional elements, such as [nouvelles] types of space or materials ».

Vernacular traditions, more or less advanced comfort depending on the region, variations in scale… As ArchDaily points out, the images generated ultimately allow us to contemplate the extreme diversity of possible futures for architecture, within the framework of what nevertheless remains ” a common goal » : quality housing for all.