Preparing for Practice: The AI-Augmented Architect
Preparing for Practice: The AI-Augmented Architect
Speaker:
Dr Ivana Kuzmanovska, UNSW
Michael Lewarne, UNSW
Dr Nicole Gardner. UNSW
Summary:
As AI transforms architectural workflows and culture, this panel examines its impact on practice, education, and the business of architecture. This session will discuss the shifting role of graduates in an increasingly automated workplace in architecture. The discussion also considers how AI can be leveraged for long-term impacts, and how architectural education can better prepare students to navigate ambiguity, and become agents of change in a socio-technical landscape.
This talk was delivered online on 26 June 2025. Talk duration is 1 hour: 03 minutes.
Speaker Bio:
Dr Ivana Kuzmanovska is Manager of the ARC Centre for Next-Gen Architectural Manufacturing (Arch_Manu). Ivana has expertise in DfMA and mass timber construction; her research focuses on the feedback loops between design and production that can lead to more sustainable and efficient outcomes.
Michael Lewarne is a UNSW MPhil student, architect and leadership coach. He helps architects elevate their practice and develop their human skills. So they’re more productive, innovative and future ready. Working in service of the profession, he’s an ACA Committee member, facilitator of the Architects’ Mental Wellbeing Forum and teaching Professional Practice.
Dr Nicole Gardner, Director of Computational Design at UNSW, is a registered architect and interdisciplinary design researcher. Her work explores architecture’s digital transformation, design innovation, and technology ethics. She is the author of Scaling the Smart City: The Design and Ethics of Urban Technology (2024) and is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre for Next-Gen Architectural Manufacturing.
CPD Details:
This talk is offered as a formal CPD activity for architects, mapped to performance criteria PC28 in the Australian 2021 National Standard of Competencies for Architects.
A copy of the CPD questions can be accessed here. If you take notes in digital format during the video, you will be able to copy/paste your answers into the questionnaire form at the end.
Upon completion of the video, a link to the CPD questionnaire will be unlocked. Submit your answers via that link to earn 1 formal CPD point and receive your certificate for record-keeping purposes. Note: The questionnaire link will only load if the video is viewed from this webpage. If you navigate to YouTube to view the video, you will not be able to access it.