26/03/2026
RAI NEWS interview during L’Aquila, Italian Capital of Culture 2026 and the first AI Salone organized by ZEST, March 11, 2026.
In the future of architecture, will artificial intelligence remain an optional tool, or will it become an inevitable step in the transformation of the profession?
This question goes far deeper than technology alone. It concerns the future role of the architect.
For me, taking part in this transformation does not mean delegating architectural composition to a machine. On the contrary, it means remaining fully responsible as the author of the project, while consciously using the tools of our time where they can bring real value: research, analysis, the discovery of innovative materials, representation, and selected stages of the creative process.
In my own practice, composition often still begins by hand: with small sculptures made in clay or DAS, which then evolve through mathematical models and advanced technologies. I like to think of myself as a hyper-technological craftsman — someone who embraces the present without giving up gesture, vision, and authorship.
During the event, I also presented an image I created with AI: Leonardo da Vinci drawing with a modern pencil. I asked the audience a simple question: would Leonardo have been any less of a genius if he had been able to produce many more drawings without spending time preparing ink? Or would he have left us an even greater legacy of his genius?
For me, that is precisely the point: the quality of thought does not depend on rejecting the tool, but on the ability to govern it.
This is why I believe engaging with this transformation is no longer optional. Not because AI should replace the architect, but because it can help the architect remain fully relevant in his or her own time.
Full interview
https://www.rainews.it/tgr/abruzzo/notiziari/video/2026/03/TGR-Abruzzo-del-12032026-ore-1400-f900b2ac-de28-48d5-be6a-eee143b73b70.html
My thanks to ZEST and AI Salone Internazionale, and to Roberto Magnifico, Fabio Frullo, Karen P. von Grabowiecki, Jeffrey D. Abbott, Sante Dino Facchini, Giammarco Ubaldi, Federico Gallitti.