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Imagining Modernist Spaces in Midjourney

Fresh Mid-Century Modern Home Listings from Across the Country

Sep 25, 2023

Frank Lloyd Wright was quoted saying: “Architecture is the triumph of human imagination over materials, methods, and men.”

**AI-generated modernist scene created with Midjourney. Prompt:** Imagine a white early 1950’s home in Long Beach California, inspired by the work of Architect Richard Neutra using clean, simple lines. A white 911T is parked sideways out front. Bright afternoon sun. Shot on a Leica M3 camera.

While the imagination component will never change, the materials and methods certainly have. For most of history, the architect’s tool set was entirely analog; pencils, protractors, drafting tables, etc. In the pre-digital era, architectural drawings and plans themselves were often considered works of art; sometimes finished with water colors and hung in homes or museums. In 1901, Charles H. Little, patented the universal drafting machine (U.S. Patent No. 1,081,758), bringing early automation to technical design and drafting. The adoption of the personal computer and later 3D modeling software, like AutoCad, would drastically transform architectural workflows through the 1980’s and 90’s. The internet and cloud-based software have further evolved the craft in recent years.

Now, LLMs (Large Language Models) and Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are changing how all sorts of people do their work. Will generative A.I. usher in the next wave of architectural innovation?

Today we’re exploring one simple multi-purpose generative AI tool called Midjourney and testing out a few fun modernism-inspired prompts. If you want a quick guide on using Midjourney you can get started here.