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Architecture in the Digital Age
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Architecture in the Digital Age

A special issue of Architecture (ISSN 2673-8945).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2026 | Viewed by 9135

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Tilanka Chandrasekera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Design and Merchandising, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
Interests: virtual and augmented reality; applications of artificial intelligence in design and design education; design cognition and computation; culturally relevant design and padagogy
Dr. Mallikarachchige Nishan Rasanga Wijetunge

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Design and Merchandising, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74075, USA
Interests: architecture; interior design; digitl design; architecture/interior design heritage; native architectural/interior design history; AI-generated design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, ‘Architecture in the Digital Age’, will examine the methodological, technological, and epistemological shifts that are redefining architectural research, practice, and education. The integration of digital tools and systems has transformed how architecture is conceived, developed, and communicated, leading to new paradigms in design thinking, production, and collaboration. This Special Issue brings together scholarship that addresses interrelated themes around architecture in the digital age to provide a comprehensive understanding of these developments.

Digital design tools and computational thinking have reshaped the foundations of architectural ideation. Parametric and generative design approaches facilitate algorithmic and variable-driven form generation. These methods support a system-based logic that emphasizes procedural control and data-informed decision-making, requiring a reevaluation of traditional design workflows. Building Information Modeling (BIM) further contributes to this transformation by enabling integrated data-rich environments that support multidisciplinary collaboration across the entire project lifecycle. BIM’s role in improving coordination, efficiency, and information management raises critical questions about authorship, responsibility, and methodological structure in both design and construction processes.

The emergence of digital fabrication and robotics, including 3D printing, CNC milling, and robotic construction, has enabled direct translation from digital model to physical artifacts. These technologies challenge conventional notions of materiality, fabrication labor, and scale, necessitating new protocols and pedagogical frameworks for engaging with construction technologies. In parallel, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) have introduced immersive modes of representation that allow for users to experience and evaluate spatial environments prior to their realization. VR is increasingly used in education and spatial analysis, while AR supports real-time site overlays and construction assistance. These technologies expand the scope of design critique and client engagement, altering the spatial and experiential dimensions of architectural communication.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) offer new tools for optimization, form generation, and predictive analysis. Their integration into architectural processes enables data-driven simulations of environmental performance and user behavior, and raises theoretical considerations regarding AI’s role as a co-designer. At the urban scale, the development of smart cities and responsive environments requires architecture to operate within cyber–physical systems, where the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), together with embedded sensors, collect and respond to real-time data. The understanding of these areas demands interdisciplinary approaches that engage architecture, data science, and systems engineering.

These technological advancements also produce conceptual shifts in architectural aesthetics and theory. Digital tools introduce new formal languages and challenge traditional understandings of space, material presence, and representation, particularly in relation to post-digital and simulation-driven design cultures. At the same time, they raise urgent ethical questions regarding sustainability, algorithmic bias, labor displacement, and access. The digital divide remains a critical issue, with unequal access to technological resources shaping who participates in digitally mediated design processes.

The impact of these technologies extends into education and professional practice. Pedagogical models are being restructured to include coding, simulation, and immersive media, while architectural practice is increasingly defined by remote collaboration, distributed teams, and cloud-based workflows. Furthermore, digital technologies play a growing role in the preservation and interpretation of cultural heritage. Techniques such as 3D scanning, digital twins, and immersive reconstruction support documentation, restoration, and public engagement with at-risk or inaccessible environments.

Together, these themes outline a comprehensive inquiry into how architecture is being reconfigured in the digital age. This Special Issue seeks to advance critical discourse by examining the evolving relationships among technologies, methodologies, and disciplinary transformation.

Dr. Tilanka Chandrasekera
Dr. Mallikarachchige Nishan Rasanga Wijetunge
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Architecture is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • computational design
  • parametric design
  • generative design
  • Building Information Modeling (BIM)
  • digital fabrication
  • robotic construction
  • Virtual Reality (VR)
  • Augmented Reality (AR)
  • artificial intelligence in architecture
  • smart cities
  • responsive environments
  • Artificial Internet of Things (AIoT)
  • digital aesthetics
  • algorithmic design
  • digital pedagogy
  • architectural education
  • interdisciplinary design
  • cultural heritage preservation
  • 3D scanning
  • ethical design
  • sustainable design
  • digital divide
  • cyber–physical systems
  • post-digital architecture
  • design methodologies

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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38 pages, 7214 KB  
Article
Quantitative Mapping of Conceptual Hierarchies and Data-Driven Taxonomies of Japanese Architectural Concepts: A 28-Term Testbed
by Gledis Gjata and Satoshi Yamada
Architecture 2026, 6(2), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture6020062 - 13 Apr 2026
Viewed by 463
Abstract
Discourse on Japanese architecture relies on qualitative interpretation to link abstract concepts such as “ma” and “mu”, used here as illustrative examples of the conceptual register, with physical spaces, such as engawa, yet lacks quantitative, data-driven validation. This study addresses this gap by [...] Read more.
Discourse on Japanese architecture relies on qualitative interpretation to link abstract concepts such as “ma” and “mu”, used here as illustrative examples of the conceptual register, with physical spaces, such as engawa, yet lacks quantitative, data-driven validation. This study addresses this gap by testing two primary hypotheses: (1) whether abstract Japanese architectural terms form a distinct, computationally recoverable conceptual layer, and (2) whether the corresponding concrete architectural devices cohere into a unified physical mesh rather than being fragmented into unrelated subclusters. We investigate this using a Natural Language Processing (NLP) framework centred on a fine-tuned BERT model, utilising an exhaustive Adjusted Rand Index (ARI) enumeration search over two-way partitions on a target vocabulary of 28 terms. Furthermore, a “definitional audit” compares a FULL corpus against a CLEAN corpus, stripped of explicit glossary-like sentences, to mitigate “shortcut learning”, allowing sensitivity at the conceptual physical boundary to be inspected. Both hypotheses are supported. A stable two-block structure appears across all evaluations, comprising a compact conceptual pocket {aware, ma, mu, wabi, sabi, and wabi_sabi} and a larger physical mesh integrating vocabulary for room, garden, and shrine. Interface structure concentrates in a narrow boundary corridor, most consistently along the engawa–shakkei linkage, with en acting as the principal physical-side interface hub under sparsified network views. In the definitional audit (FULL versus CLEAN), ikezuishi is the only recurrently unstable item, shifting sides under small, defensible changes in corpus cleaning and Japanese-aware sentence segmentation, which is best read as a sensitivity signal rather than a substantive change in macro-structure. Removing glossary-like definitions slightly tightens dispersion while preserving the backbone split, which supports definitional audits as a practical robustness check for distributional studies of architectural vocabularies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Architecture in the Digital Age)
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37 pages, 22248 KB  
Article
Prompt Choreographies: Dialogues Between Humans and Generative AI in Architecture
by Martin Uhrík, José Carlos López Cervantes, Cintya Eva Sánchez Morales, Roman Hajtmanek, Jakub Demčák and Alexander Kupko
Architecture 2026, 6(1), 46; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture6010046 - 11 Mar 2026
Viewed by 1233
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in architectural practice and education, yet its role often remains confined to image production or optimization tasks. This study situates generative AI within a broader design ecology. It examines how structured human–AI interaction can support environmentally oriented [...] Read more.
Generative artificial intelligence is increasingly embedded in architectural practice and education, yet its role often remains confined to image production or optimization tasks. This study situates generative AI within a broader design ecology. It examines how structured human–AI interaction can support environmentally oriented architectural thinking in design education. The article presents an international design workshop as a research setting in which architecture students engaged with AI through a multi-agent workflow. This workflow combined large language models, diffusion-based image generation, 2D–3D translation tools, parametric modeling, and clay-based 3D printing. Central to the methodology is the concept of prompt choreographies. These are deliberate dialogs between human and AI agents, based on a language of prompts and AI-generated outcomes. Through this process, the design concept moves toward a final architectural proposal. The workshop addressed complex ecological challenges emerging from interactions among Earth’s spheres. These were conceived as environmental interfaces defined by behavioral continuity rather than typological form. Using qualitative, design-based evaluation criteria focused on environmental, spatial, and material aspects, the study identifies recurring patterns of human–AI collaboration. The findings indicate that generative AI supports architectural ideation most effectively when embedded in structured workflows that emphasize curatorial decision-making and reduce generative overproduction. While limited to a workshop-based educational context, the research offers transferable methodological insights for architectural pedagogy and conceptual practice. It proposes a process-oriented framework for designing with generative AI and outlines an emerging form of architectural literacy and multi-agent collaboration that warrants further empirical validation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Architecture in the Digital Age)
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35 pages, 11090 KB  
Article
Design in the Age of Predictive Architecture: From Digital Models to Parametric Code to Latent Space
by José Carlos López Cervantes and Cintya Eva Sánchez Morales
Architecture 2026, 6(1), 25; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture6010025 - 10 Feb 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1057
Abstract
Over the last three decades, architecture has undergone a sustained digital transformation that has progressively displaced the ontology of the geometric generator, understood here as the primary artefact through which form is produced, controlled, and legitimized. This paper argues that, within one extended [...] Read more.
Over the last three decades, architecture has undergone a sustained digital transformation that has progressively displaced the ontology of the geometric generator, understood here as the primary artefact through which form is produced, controlled, and legitimized. This paper argues that, within one extended digital epoch, three successive regimes have reconfigured architectural agency. First, a digital model regime, in which computer-generated 3D models become the main generators of geometry. Second, a parametric code regime, in which scripted relations and numerical parameters supersede the individual model as the core design object, defining a space of possibilities rather than a single instance. Third, an emerging latent regime, in which diffusion and transformer systems produce high plausibility synthetic images as image-first generators and subsequently impose a post hoc image-to-geometry translation requirement. To make this shifting paradigm comparable across time, the paper uses the blob as a stable morphological reference and develops a comparative reading of four blobs, Kiesler’s Endless House, Greg Lynn’s Embryological House, Marc Fornes’ Vaulted Willow, and an author-generated GenAI blob curated from a traceable AI image archive, to show how the geometric generator migrates from object, to model, to code, to latent image-space. As a pre-digital hinge case, Kiesler is selected not only for anticipating blob-like continuity, but for clarifying a recurrent disciplinary tension, “ form first generators” that precede tectonic and programmatic rationalization. The central hypothesis is that GenAI introduces an ontological shift not primarily at the level of style, but at the level of architectural judgement and evidentiary legitimacy. The project can begin with a predictive image that is visually convincing yet tectonically underdetermined. To name this condition, the paper proposes the plausibility gap, the mismatch between visual plausibility and tectonic intelligibility, as an operational criterion for evaluating image-first workflows, and for specifying the verification tasks required to stabilize them as architecture. Selection establishes evidentiary legitimacy, while a friction map and Gap Index externalize the translation pressure required to turn predictive imagery into accountable geometry, making the plausibility gap operational rather than merely asserted. The paper concludes by outlining implications for authorship, pedagogy, and disciplinary judgement in emerging multi-agent design ecologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Architecture in the Digital Age)
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37 pages, 6898 KB  
Article
Tracing the Sociospatial Affordances of Physical Environment: An AI-Based Unified Framework for Modeling Social Behavior in Campus Open Spaces
by Ecem Kara and Barış Dinç
Architecture 2026, 6(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture6010010 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 898
Abstract
In educational settings, it is crucial to comprehend and manage individuals’ social interaction behaviors through the physical environment. However, analyzing social interaction patterns manually is a time-consuming and energy-intensive process. This study aims to reveal the socio-behavioral implications of spatial features, based on [...] Read more.
In educational settings, it is crucial to comprehend and manage individuals’ social interaction behaviors through the physical environment. However, analyzing social interaction patterns manually is a time-consuming and energy-intensive process. This study aims to reveal the socio-behavioral implications of spatial features, based on the Affordance Theory, using artificial intelligence (AI). To this end, the study proposes a unified quantitative methodology that leverages diverse AI approaches. Behavioral data are gathered via systematic observation and analyzed using (1) Deep Learning (DL)-based Human Detection and classified by (2) Machine Learning (ML)-based Interaction Score Prediction approach. The behavioral findings were analyzed in relation to spatial data via (3) Spatial Feature Selection. As the study area, the ATU Faculty of Engineering building complex was selected, and behavioral data from 746 participants were collected in the complex’s open spaces. The results indicated that AI-based approaches provide a high degree of precision in analyzing the relationships between social interaction and spatial features within the addressed context. Also, (1) the existence and (2) the rotation of seating units and (3) shading strategies are identified as the spatial features that contribute to higher interaction scores in the educational settings. The study proposes an integrated and transferable methodology based on diverse AI approaches for determining social interaction and its spatial aspects, leading to a comprehensive and reproducible approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Architecture in the Digital Age)
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22 pages, 3866 KB  
Article
Development of a BIM-Based Metaverse Virtual World for Collaborative Architectural Design
by David Stephen Panya, Taehoon Kim, Soon Min Hong and Seungyeon Choo
Architecture 2025, 5(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5030071 - 1 Sep 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3180
Abstract
The rapid evolution of the metaverse is driving the development of new digital design tools that integrate Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies. Core technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) are increasingly combined [...] Read more.
The rapid evolution of the metaverse is driving the development of new digital design tools that integrate Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies. Core technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) are increasingly combined with BIM to enhance collaboration and innovation in design and construction workflows. However, current BIM–VR integration often remains limited to isolated tasks, lacking persistent, multi-user environments that support continuous project collaboration. This study proposes a BIM-based Virtual World (VW) framework that addresses these limitations by creating an immersive, real-time collaborative platform for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. The system enables multi-user access to BIM data through avatars, supports direct interaction with 3D models and associated metadata, and maintains a persistent virtual environment that evolves alongside project development. Key functionalities include interactive design controls, real-time decision-making support, and integrated training capabilities. A prototype was developed using Unreal Engine and supporting technologies to validate the approach. The results demonstrate improved interdisciplinary collaboration, reduced information loss during design iteration, and enhanced stakeholder engagement. This research highlights the potential of BIM-based Virtual Worlds to transform AEC collaboration by fostering an open, scalable ecosystem that bridges immersive environments with data-driven design and construction processes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Architecture in the Digital Age)
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Review

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38 pages, 3043 KB  
Review
Adopting Artificial Intelligence in Architectural Conceptual Design: A Systematic Bibliometric Analysis
by Liangyu Chen, Zhen Chen and Feng Dong
Architecture 2026, 6(2), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture6020060 - 10 Apr 2026
Viewed by 713
Abstract
This article presents a systematic bibliometric analysis on academic research into Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in Architectural Conceptual Design (ACD). Based on a curated selection of publications indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases between 2010 and 2025, this article [...] Read more.
This article presents a systematic bibliometric analysis on academic research into Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in Architectural Conceptual Design (ACD). Based on a curated selection of publications indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases between 2010 and 2025, this article shows a study that maps the intellectual evolution, thematic composition, and methodological trends of the field. By using the software tool VOSviewer, this study generates a series of knowledge graphs, including Keyword Co-Occurrence and International Collaboration Networks. The findings from this study reveal a rapid acceleration in AI-related research focused on the conceptual design stage, highlighting its transformative potential for architectural practice. Through a critical analysis of bibliometric results, this study identifies dominant research emphases, emerging directions, and persistent frictions between academic approaches and industry adoption. This review article contributes to the theoretical consolidation of AI applications in ACD and provides a structured foundation for future ACD-related research and practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Architecture in the Digital Age)
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