Theodore Spyropoulos, Programme Head of the AA DRL programme, delivered the keynote lecture in the Design Computation Input/Output Conference (DC I/O) in London last month. The annual conference aims to progress the understanding and application of computational design in relation to current global challenges.

Spyropoulos’ lecture was titled ‘Intelligence and Autonomy: Notes on the Artificial’ and presented a body of research that challenged dogmas within architecture and building in a world that is constantly changing. He commented:

‘The lecture champions an unapologetic belief that design and discourse permeates all aspects of life. Architecture here is a framework to explore, invent and respond to the challenges of today. It is a pursuit for an adaptive and enabling architecture that can evolve with us. The research presented in this lecture challenges the fixed and finite orthodoxies of building design for a latent and unknown world. Within the contemporary condition, new conceptual terrains emerge that raise questions of agency and intelligence within a deep ecology of our environment. The research examines scenario-based design through autonomous, artificially intelligent and self-structuring constructs. Post-disaster complexity, issues of mass migration, post-earthquake deployable housing and hospitals on demand are some of the challenges undertaken towards the development of an instantaneous response infrastructure.’