Material and Artificial Intelligence in Architecture

What if we thought of AI as material?

Join Head Hi, Pratt School of Architecture and architect and professor Jonas Coersmeier as he shares more about his new book Material and Artificial Intelligence in Architecture which offers a bold and materially grounded rethinking of design with artificial intelligence, and proposes a new model of agency distributed across material, artificial, and human actors. For the occasion, Coersmeier will be joined in conversation by Edward Keller, Gökhan Kodalak, and Danielle Willems.

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More about the book:

Rooted in material philosophy and ecological design thinking, Material and Artificial Intelligence in Architecture establishes a comprehensive framework for understanding AI in architecture. Conceptually rigorous yet accessibly written and visually rich, the book interweaves design, theory, technology, and practice to explore how artificial intelligence, material agency, and human authorship will co-create the built environment of the future.

Challenging both pervasive fear-driven narratives and techno-solutionist hype that dominate public discourse around AI, the book proposes a new plane of engagement—introduced as Shared Materiality. This concept recognizes the entangled agency of human, artificial, and material actors. It also addresses the ethical, ecological, and social implications of AI technologies, including the vast energy demands of AI systems, embedded algorithmic bias, and broader concerns about systemic inequity and access. Specifically within the field of architecture, it critiques the dominance of image-based AI in current architectural discourse and practice, redirecting attention to geometry, morphology, and structure—fundamental spatial dimensions of architecture—and discusses emerging AI models that engage these domains.

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Jonas Coersmeier is a German architect and American professor based in Brooklyn, New York. He explores the intersection of technology and material philosophy in design. His research and teaching at Pratt Institute and the University of Pennsylvania focus on social and ecological equity in urban housing and urban design. Educated at Columbia University, MIT, and the Technical University of Darmstadt, he brings an international perspective to architectural thinking—combining engineering discipline with speculative design experimentation. An award-winning designer, his projects have been exhibited and published internationally, contributing to a broader discourse on architecture and design. @coersmeier Ed Keller’s research and practice explores the structures of feeling which link cultural, infrastructural, ecological, and technosocial systems, revealing emergent terrestrial and cosmopolitical potential. He is a designer, professor, writer, technologist and musician, and with Carla Leitão, a co-founder of Spec.AE / AUM Studio offices practicing architecture & design research. Keller & Leitão have convened 20+ international conferences and lecture series. Ed’s recent consulting and academic positions include Lecturer in architectural design/history/theory at RPI; consulting Creative Director at SingularityNET; mentor/curator with the Madrid MediaLAB Synthetic Intelligence Lab#03; affiliate researcher with the Antikythera program; and program director/faculty with The New Centre; he has taught architecture, film and technology since 1996 at universities including TheNew School/Parsons, Columbia GSAPP, SCIARc, UPenn, Pratt, and FIU.

Gökhan Kodalak is a theorist, teaching philosophies of architecture and nature at Pratt Institute; an architect, instructing design studios at Parsons School of Design; and an architectural historian holding a Ph.D. from and teaching specialized seminars at Cornell University. His work explores heterodox lineages of immanent philosophies, cosmoaesthetics and worldbuilding, cybernetic technologies and ecologies, spatial politics and urban commons, and the radical Spinozist conception that architectural modalities are alive.

Pratt School of Architecture is grounded in a pedagogy that reflects the legacy of socially engaged, justice-driven, and environmentally responsible practice, that’s been the bedrock of the school for decades. Our curriculum prepares graduates to be critical thinkers, responsible designers, and dutiful custodians of the communities they represent, the environments they inhabit, and the profession they are committed to disrupting.

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Head Hi is an organization dedicated to art, architecture and design specializing in publications and cultural programming with an espresso bar located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn by the Navy Yard. We feature a curated selection of publications from around the globe. Working with local and international artists, designers, publishers, community members and organizations in various fields, Head Hi is a space for exploration and interaction that hosts talks, book launches, art shows, music performances and other events.