Design by Algorithm
René Ammann | 9. December 2025
A few dozen of the hundreds of AI-generated proposals, “each offering a subtly different solution to the design objectives laid out” by SOM. (Image © SOM)
Minimum number of AI-powered design variants that were analyzed and evaluated against competing objectives by the architects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in their design of the West Bund Convention Center in Shanghai, a building “neither rooted in nature nor even entirely designed by humans”: 800
According to SOM, “The resulting form—a crystalline glass volume that gleams by day and fades to black at night—balances performance with precision.” (Photo: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM)