DS2 (Dream Studio)
Central to the studio's approach is the reconsideration of ancient, sustainable materials like stone, earth, and wood. These materials, often dismissed as primitive, are reframed as cutting-edge resources for contemporary design. Their low embodied carbon, bioreceptivity, and inherent connection to natural landscapes position them as ideal mediums for exploring new architectural languages that bridge the gap between sustainability and innovation.
We will delve into the transformative power of generative AI to develop a new vocabulary and vision for an architecture that is closer to nature. AI's generative capabilities offer unprecedented complexity and versatility, straddling the line between the generic and novel, and fostering an innovative design paradigm where the outcome can, in many ways, precede the inception. This shift challenges the typical design approach, placing a renewed emphasis on the critical role of digital and physical craft in engaging with AI's capabilities. The creations of generative AI are not mere replicas but rather improvisations on human design and creativity, augmenting aesthetics and imagination. The complexity of material articulation in generative AI imagery drives a post-digital design mindset, calling for a careful and considered mediation between the physical and digital. We will explore the value of generative tools and iterative design methodologies in the contemporary design landscape dominated by AI, emphasising the importance of tangible objects and hand-making as critical counterpoints to the abstract complexity of AI-generated designs.
Making and drawing are essential counterpoints to generative tools like AI. The studio approach encapsulates the tension inherent in contemporary architectural practice between the tangible reality of built forms (the object) and the alluring power of architectural imagery and representation (the picturesque). This tension has been magnified by the proliferation of digital tools that facilitate increasingly complex and visually arresting architectural propositions. Operating alongside the MA Digital Craft in Architecture course, this design studio will explore and critique radical visions of speculative architecture, learn and innovate with traditional materials and instrumentalise digital design and fabrication tools to create designs that push the boundaries of what can be imagined.
Tutors: Adam Holloway, Elliott Krause, Deniz Topcuoglu, Esther Rubio Madronal
Guests: Sebastian Hicks, Toby Shew, Camille Chevrier, WEA, Arda Inceoglu
Students: Kenas Chan, Lok Hin Chow, Ana Ilie, Carlos Lora, Kit Lum, Gizemsah Meter, Rahul Mukesh Vyas, Revathi Nair, Sameep Rai, Nikole Rugina, Alireza Sadeghi, Raiza Shanavas, Farah Swilam, Silje Therese Tendenes
Urban Fractal
Nicoleta Rugina
This project explores the revival of traditional Turkish craftsmanship through the lens of muqarnas, a decorative architectural element known for its intricate, geometrical design. By investigating the scalability of muqarnas components at different levels-ranging from city objects to structural elements-the project aims to reimagine its role in contemporary architecture. In doing so, it bridges the gap between historical techniques and modern design, while fostering a deeper connection to cultural heritage and promoting sustainable, locally-rooted practices in the evolving architectural landscape of Turkey.
The potential of this project is to expand as a result of craftsmen revolution against mass production and the reincorporation of the crafts profession mixed with advanced technologies. The new explorations and geometries that can come from human work and machine can give birth to a sculptural language as a reflection of skill, culture and innovation.
“The aim of the project is to recollect a lost craft whilst making use of the local sources - waste material from industrial stone and its integration into the cultural fabric of communal consciousness. Firstly, using stone allows for a strategic move of environmental design choice and thermal comfort in turkish weather conditions, alongside providing a second chance of rebirth for local artisans to teach, preserve and continue the skills. The integration of digital tools, in this instance MetaQuest glasses provides a 3dimensional projection for carving volumetric and more complex shapes instead of the traditional 2d template.”
Process of carving
Geometry
Proposed Front Elevation
Proposed Stone Journey Section
Scalability Concept
Side Elevations
Site Regeneration
Stone Quarry
Proposed Isometric View
Fold Me a Path, an Experience of Fractured Flow
Farah Swilam
DISTORTION
This project explores how fractured geometry and pattern-based aggregation can be reimagined through artificial intelligence to generate a new kind of human experience in architecture. At its core is the idea of distortion—of taking familiar logics like Islamic pattern growth and crystallographic expansion, and reshaping them through AI tools to create spatial forms that feel intuitive, yet unfamiliar.
GROWTH
Inspired by how crystals grow—from a single point to complex geometries—the architecture builds on principles of repetition, branching, and fracture. These logics were first studied physically and digitally, then given over to AI as a co-designer. Using curated prompts, AI was trained on sketches, models, and keywords relating to fragmented patterns, Islamic growth systems, and public infrastructure. The outputs were then decoded and reinterpreted—not as final forms, but as provocations that guided the design’s evolution.
FLOW
The result is a prefabricated ferry terminal for Istanbul’s Golden Horn waterfront that transforms functional infrastructure into an immersive, spatial narrative. The architecture is composed of clustered, interlocking units that grow across a path—from land to water, from compression to openness. Each unit shifts in orientation and size, producing a continuous yet fractured journey that reflects the unpredictability of human movement and emotion.
RHYTHM
The plan logic was developed using AI to simulate how comfort, pressure, and curiosity shape the way people move. AI-generated diagrams were used to zone areas based on levels of compression and openness—producing distinct flows for commuters and tourists. These behavioral zones became the foundation for a plan that shifts in density, path width, and activity, allowing users to either pass through quickly or pause and engage with the waterfront.
SKIN
The exterior form emerged from a library of AI-generated crystal-inspired geometries. Typologies were extracted, clustered, and mirrored to form a multifaceted shell that responds to orientation, program, and views. The fragmented skin creates shadows, pockets of stillness, and moments of revelation—establishing a visual rhythm that echoes the energy of Istanbul while remaining rooted in geometric order.
LAYERS
Inside, the spatial experience is divided into three experiential levels. The ground level houses ticketing, boarding, and access points—defined by solid, functional units. The mid-level becomes more porous, shaped by movement and framed views. The upper level offers terraces, open platforms, and reflective spaces, pulling users upward and outward toward the water and sky. These layers are not separate floors but spatial intensities—created by the aggregation and scaling of modular units based on human behavior and perception.
ASSEMBLY
Constructed using prefabricated timber shells and CNC-milled triangular panels, the structure rests on steel piers over water. Brass cladding protects the outer shell and reflects the city’s warm, historic palette. Passive design strategies—like cross-ventilation, sun shading, and rainwater collection—are integrated into the shell system, while prefabrication minimizes construction time and urban disruption.
RESONANCE
Ultimately, Fold Me a Path, an Experience of Fractured Flow is a proposal for architecture that listens—shaped by culture, guided by AI, and tuned to the rhythms of human experience.
Ground Floor Plan
Left Elevation and Section
Main Longitudinal Section
Spaces as experiences (Interior Form Generation
AI Extracted Spatial Characters (Exterior Form Generation)
AI Interior Views (right is waiting area, left is main stairs to cafe)
AI Plan Logic Explorations
AI Waterfront Reimagination of the first ferry terminal
AI Whole Sirkeci Waterfront Reimagination
Formal Language Aggregation Research
The Parasite
Alireza Sadeghi
Haydarpasa in Istanbul is home to multiple historical buildings such as Haydarpasa Train Station and the T.M.O silos. T.MO (Ministry of agriculture’s organization) owns four silo buildings, built in 1903, 1905, 1907 and 1957, with the last one being the biggest with 60 silos (30000 tonnes of capacity) made out of reinforced concrete and a 12 storey office block. The building was built after the 2nd World War by the new republic government (after the Ottoman Empire) as a response to food shortage. The strategic location of the building, the Bosphorus waterfront, and the big message on the facade by the T.M.O was rather a part of the propoganda that was aiming to ensure faramers and civilians that the new government was in control of the situation. The building has been obsolete and vacant since 2005 and this project explores how the concept of an architectural parasite as a vision and tool for the architects reprogramms a dead host and makes use of what has been not seen, not used or wasted and mis-used. The Parasite chooses a weak victim capable of feeding, with architectural qualities, and uses its resources to create a its own body based on the genetics of the host. With the host being infected, the Parasite creates a symbiosis in which the host is in a better relationship with its eco-system. The Parasite relies purely on the host’s resources and what has been not used by it to envision a new hollistic system for retrofit and re-use.
