midjourney hybridizes urban skyscrapers with sustainable bamboo structural frames

a fusion of ecological design and high-tech construction

In 2006, Edward McIntosh completed his design for a cluster of bamboo structures for a beach eco resort in Ecuador. Today, taking his explorations of the sustainable material a step further and into the urban fabric, the architect imagines bamboo as a high-tech construction resource. With the help of Midjourney, the AI-generated ‘Bamboo Skyscrapers’ series explores a fusion of ecological design principles with contemporary construction and modern urban contexts.

The series visualizes towers such as The Leadenhall building, Lloyds Building, HSBC HK Building, Mahanakhon, and more as modern and ecological hybrids. Superimposed with imagery of the architect’s original built bamboo structure, the skyscrapers emerge from their skylines as amalgamations of modern industrial materials hybridized with robust bamboo frames.

edward McIntosh’s bamboo skyscrapers take over urban skylines

Edward McIntosh’s initial explorations of bamboo in the built environment began in 2004, when he began designing the Meson del Quijote Eco Resort on the beaches of Ayampe, Ecuador. The project gave shape to several bamboo buildings, including a five story tall structure built out of bamboo poles bundled together into robust columns and beams with peripheral diagonal bracing. Today, with his work with Atkins Middle East, the architect explores the use of text-to-image AI tools such as Midjourney to enhance workflow in the field of architecture. Their practice has included implementing the programs for custom reference generators, turbocharged photoshop, and as brainstorming tools for team members to quickly exchange ideas in graphic formats.

With this in mind, McIntosh revisited his early explorations of multi-story bamboo buildings by using Midjourney to create hybrids between bamboo structural systems and iconic urban high-rises. The particular built skyscrapers and mega structures were then merged with the 3D cartesian bamboo structure which used as base sample input for the program.

Considering the impact of AI tools in the design industries, Edward McIntosh notes: ‘I believe text-to-image AI tools are currently focused on image creation, not so much on architectural design. Nevertheless, they are quite powerful tools which allow for rapid and compelling testing of ideas and the possibility of discovering nuanced variations which might not have been obvious in a more traditional design process. More than threatening the role of the human designer, we are using text-to-image AI tools to accelerate our design process and come up with new paths of thinking.

project info:

name: Bamboo Skyscrapers
designer: Edward McIntosh

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