Diffusions in Architecture: Artificial Intelligence and Image Generators
by Matias del Campo, Lev Manovich
Noise, Pixels, and Ancient Metamorphic Rocks: A Zoo of Alpine Villas
Matias del Campo
The Grand Tour was considered the ultimate rite of passage for the cultured gentleman or lady of the 18th century. This journey could last up to several years, and most importantly, it included roaming the Italian peninsula to visit, admire, and absorb the remnants of classical antiquity. A significant aspect of these travels included scaling the Alps on the way to Italy. This experience was sublime and terrifying at the same time: the giant dimensions of nature that dwarfed the traveler's own existence.41 The idea of the sublime became a mainstay in the discussion of the relationship between humans and nature.42
Today, the sublime has been extended by the presence of big data and the large‐scale learning systems based on various artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms such as diffusion models that interrogate nature (both human and nonhuman) at the most intimate levels. It is almost ironic that some of the largest data repositories are at home deep within the mass of the Alps,43 as if to remind us about the history of the intellectual relationship between the efficacy of science and the overwhelming scale of nature.44 This new condition is highly inspiring as an educational setting, provoking questions about the position of nature, technology, and arts in this ménage à trois. In effect, it constitutes a new Grand Tour, a pilgrimage of sorts, to the Alpine region in order to engage with the ...