An Educational Experience Between AI and Architectural Drawing

This paper presents the latest phase of a research project investigating the interplay between the representation of ‘Virtual Living’ and digital technocultures—particularly the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR)—within the educational framework of an Architectural Drawing course. This course is part of the third-year curriculum of the Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture at the ‘G. d’Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara. The research builds upon and refines technocultural methodologies long employed in teaching, leveraging the concept of the ‘semantic model’ as a versatile foundation for designing habitable virtual spaces, such as metaverses or virtual museums. This approach has been revisited and expanded to address the rapid evolution of generative AI applications, which demand rigorous monitoring and continuous thematic experimentation. New technologies in representation are reshaping the pedagogical landscape, offering unprecedented opportunities to redefine the scope of architectural drawing education. From descriptive geometry to surveying, from the history of representation to design, the incorporation of AI has fundamentally transformed how visual representations are conceived and executed. This paper discusses a case study that bridges research and pedagogy, showcasing how students’ creativity, when coupled with the capabilities of AI, facilitates the creation of innovative semantic models. These models have direct applications in the design of Virtual Cities and Museums, offering a vision of inhabitable spaces within the metaverse.