An HCI Perspective on Sustainable GenAI Integration in Architectural Design Education

TL;DR

This paper explores how Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) perspectives can guide sustainable integration of generative AI in architectural education, emphasizing environmental impact and participatory approaches.

Contribution

It introduces three HCI-informed strategies for sustainable genAI integration in architectural curricula, framing genAI as a socio-technical process.

Findings

Proposes eco-feedback mechanisms for environmental awareness

Suggests participatory stakeholder scoping to align interests

Recommends interdisciplinary focus on data centers

Abstract

Generative AI (genAI) is increasingly influencing architectural design practice and is expected to affect, or even transform, the profession, even though its benefits and costs remain unresolved. In response, design schools are increasingly integrating genAI into their curricula. Yet this integration creates a paradox: critical engagement with genAI often requires increased use of the tools in question, despite limited methods for estimating their environmental cost in teaching contexts. In this paper, we argue that HCI offers a useful methodological lens for addressing this tension. We propose three HCI-informed directions for more sustainable genAI integration in architectural education: contextual eco-feedback, participatory stakeholder scoping, and reframing data centres as an interdisciplinary focus. We therefore argue that genAI should be understood not only as a new architectural design tool, but also as a socio-technical process that architectural education, and design education in general, must engage with critically.