The series of lectures for the ‘Contemporary Architecture Frontier’ postgraduate demonstration course at Shenzhen University, under the guidance of ‘International Vision’ and ‘Youth Vanguard’, has built a platform for theoretical construction and practical analysis of architectural design and urban construction in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Over the past three semesters, this course has focused on hot topics including history, philosophy, art, urban and rural renewal, digital cities, and Shenzhen experiments, inviting more than 70 high-level experts, scholars, and architects from domestic and international brother schools and the industry, and has held more than 20 frontier academic lectures and dialogues.

Against the backdrop of the industry where the future of architecture and cities has sparked widespread discussion, the theme of this semester’s course is ‘Artificial and Intelligence - Architecture Towards the Future’. On the one hand, it explores the academic frontier where emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, robots, and metaverse intersect with architecture. At the same time, it attempts to seek the genuine power of ‘anti-AI’ architectural design creation in the era of change, and plans to invite pioneering scholars from home and abroad to try to discuss the new ideas, new theories, and new practices in the architectural industry under the ‘planning design - construction interaction’ full industry chain from two distinct paths, focusing on generative design of urban architecture, intelligent or traditional construction methods, and information interaction between machines and humans or nature and humans, and to carry out knowledge sharing and academic speculation on the transformation of architecture and cities.

Lecture Content:

Christian J. Lange

Associate Professor (Teaching)

Director, Fabrication and Material Technologies Lab

Leader, Robotic Fabrication Lab

Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong

Personal Introduction:

Christian J. Lange is a registered German architect and Associate Professor (Teaching) in the Department of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong, where he teaches architectural design and classes in advanced digital modeling and robotic fabrication with a recent focus on AI. He serves as Director of the Fabrication and Material Technologies Lab and is the founder and leader of the Robotic Fabrication Lab – an internationally renowned research environment for architectural robotic fabrication, prototyping, and construction. His work and research have been published internationally and featured in over 30 exhibits worldwide, including the Venice Biennale and the Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture.

 Lecture Topic:

From Standard to Non-Standard Standards：New modes of production in Architecture

In Architecture, the concept of standardization has had a profound impact on the built environment. In a sense, standardization has been the essence of all economic developments and rapid urbanization since the early 20th century. However, computational tools and CAD/CAM methods developed in the past two decades have given architects a loophole to escape the mandate for standardization. Robotic fabrication and 3D printing are the latest ingredients in the modern toolbox of an architect, promising the world more specificity for the same price. The next big thing is already on the horizon. AI has emerged at light speed as a powerful new tool out of nowhere and is here to stay to shake up the world of Architecture as we know it. This lecture explores this transformation from standard solutions to a world that might give a renaissance to arts and crafts with a digital twist. Drawing from personal research conducted at the Robotic Fabrication Lab at HKU, the presentation delves into innovative projects that depart from traditional standardization approaches and try to offer new solutions with the aim towards non-standard Standards.

Dialogue Guests:

YANG Zhenyuan

WAN Xinyu

Lecture Time and Location:

Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 19:00

 School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Room C205