PLAN 211 Design Studio Showcase - DALL-E 2 AI Project | School of Planning

This most recent term (Winter '23), our PLAN211 - Design Studio Foundations course partnered with the Sustainability Office to produce urban design visualizations that explore the possibilities of what the future of the University of Waterloo campus could look like when meeting the University’s sustainability goals. Students’ first project was to create a general idea of a sustainable campus by submitting prompts into the new cutting-edge technology: DALL-E 2.

In this project, students were asked to start with an initial command for DALL-E 2 that captured components of a sustainable campus, which they continued to add commands and edits to until the displayed image aligned with their vision. Students created posters with their images and a brief discussion about the strengths and limitations of the platform. The students took a stance on the question: “Is AI the future of Urban Design?”; identifying the limits of an algorithm for replicating the contextual knowledge, critical perspective, attention to diversity, and nuanced iteration of a human designer; but recognizing the power of AI to quickly turn ideas into images. These technologies are becoming increasingly powerful and accessible and as one student, Myah Sachedina, concluded: it’s not a question of if AI will be the future of urban design, but rather: “What will the future of urban design look like with AI?” These works can also be viewed as PDFs at the following link.

PLAN211 Student Mariella Leccese's project "Tomorrow's Terra Firma"

Leccese, Mariella - Tomorrow's Terra Firma - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Adrian Li's project "Sustainable Campus Futurama"

Li, Adrian - Sustainable Campus Futurama - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Anna Liu's project "Future Energy-Efficient Campus, With Geese!"

Liu, Anna - Future Energy-Efficient Campus, With Geese! - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Jade McGowan's project "Artificial Utopia"

McGowan, Jade - Artificial Utopia - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Sofia Melo's project "A Bookworm's Paradise"

Melo, Sofia - A Bookworm's Paradise - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Nish Patel's project "Sustainable Approach to Futuristic Urban Evolution"

Patel, Nish - Sustainable Approach to Futuristic Urban Evolution - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Ananya Patel's project "Inside Out, Outside In"

Patel, Ananya - Inside Out, Outside In" - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Alley Poon's project "Beyond Tomorrow"

Poon, Alley - Beyond Tomorrow - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Andra Popp's project "The Green Pathway to the Future"

Popp, Andra - The Green Pathway to the Future - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Sydney Robb's project "Hidden Treehouse"

Robb, Sydney - Hidden Treehouse - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Tim Ross' project "Study in Shangri-La"

Ross, Tim - Study in Shangri-La - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Myah Sachedina's project "Skywalker Bridge"

Sachedina, Myah - Skywalker Bridge - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Dylan Schnurr's project "The Future of University Campuses: Is It Green?"

Schnurr, Dylan - The Future of University Campuses: Is It Green? - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Paige Thompson's project "Floating Utopia"

Thompson, Paige - Floating Utopia - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Katie Traynor's project "Techno Utopia"

Traynor, Katie - Techno Utopia -For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab"

PLAN211 Student Michael Barone's project "See You at School Tomorrow"

Barone, Michael - See You at School Tomorrow - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Valentina Casas' project "DALL-Eance in AI"

Casas, Valentina - DALL-Eance in AI - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Cherilynne Chau's project "Urban Futures"

Chau, Cherilynne - Urban Futures - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Anna Chung's project "Human Utopian or AI Utopian?"

Chung, Anna - Human Utopian or AI Utopian? - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Xavier Costa's project "Corridors of Trees & Gardens"

Costa, Xavier - Corridors of Trees & Gardens - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Linda Evans' project "Outside of Eden"

Evans, Linda - Outside of Eden - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Ealy Fong's project "Karesansui"

Fong, Ealy - Karesansui - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student George Gianniotis' project "A Vision of Innovation"

Gianniotis, George - A Vision of Innovation - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Michael Glazyrin's project "Unintelligent Intelligence"

Glazyrin, Michael - Unintelligent Intelligence - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Kavishka Gomes' project "U of Topia - 2050"

Gomes, Kavishka - U of Topia - 2050 - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Maryam Hamdan's project "A Green Oasis"

Hamdan, Maryam - A Green Oasis - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Jamie Hearder's project "A Sustainable Future Campus"

Hearder, Jamie - A Sustainable Future Campus - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Khalil Heron's project "The Future of our Urban Streetscapes"

Heron, Khalil - The Future of our Urban Streetscapes - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".

PLAN211 Student Urooj Khan's project "Man or Machine?"

Khan, Urooj - Man or Machine? Which is seated at the designers table? - For the full-size image, please right click the image and select "open link in new tab".