As the boundaries between machine intelligence and human intuition continue to blur, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in the evolution of computer-aided architectural design. This year’s conference explores Humanistic Computation and Intelligence — a call to embrace computation not as a detached instrument, but as a creative and ethical collaborator in the design process. We invite researchers, designers, thinkers, and technologists to reimagine intelligence in the service of meaning, ethics, and humanity.
“Humanistic” refers to an approach that centers human values, lived experiences, and ethics, particularly in fields shaped by technology and computation. In the context of computer-aided architectural design, a humanistic perspective entails:
- Prioritizing human creativity, intuition, and cultural meaning in design processes.
- Viewing technology as a tool to enhance human agency — not to replace it.
- Considering the social, emotional, and ethical dimensions of designed environments.
- Embracing subjectivity, diversity, and critical thinking as integral to intelligent design, alongside data and algorithmic logic.
To guide this year’s discourse, we propose the following manifestos:
- The Human at the Core: In an age of algorithms and automation, we reaffirm the central role of human creativity, judgment, empathy, and responsibility in the design process. Computation should not replace the designer—it must empower the human to reach beyond the known, to imagine, interpret, and shape new worlds.
- Design as Dialogue: Computation is not merely a tool or medium, but a conversation — between human and machine, intuition and analysis, ethics and aesthetics. Our goal is not only to build smarter tools, but to cultivate deeper, more responsive relationships between designers and their digital environments.
- Reclaiming Agency: Intelligence is not solely artificial; it is shared, distributed, and emergent. We envision a future where human agency is amplified by computational means — not overwritten. We call for thoughtful integration, not technological submission.
- Culture is Code: Architecture is more than a structure; it encodes culture, memory, and meaning. We believe computational design must carry this legacy forward — not by replication, but through critical engagement with the cultural codes of our time.
As we celebrate the emergence of new computational technologies in architectural practices, we also recognize the urgent need for expanded knowledge and toolsets — that are capable of bridging machine rationality with the depth of human intuition, culture, and values.
