Blueprints for a dream: the new age of virtual architecture

Aspiring architects are using social media, AI and digital technology to showcase their fantastical creations to the full

Something big is happening," says Hamza Shaikh. Architecture is entering a new age." The ways in which buildings are imagined and communicated are, he argues, being transformed by a combination of social media and the ever-evolving techniques of digital drawing, to which artificial intelligence is adding new capabilities. And indeed, if it is not yet clear how blocks of flats or schools or shopping centres near you might be changed by this revolution, the energy and invention behind it are undeniable.

There is also, as Shaikh justifiably claims, a social transformation. If, in the past, aspiring architects had to claw their way up a profession that favoured those with connections and money, now anyone from anywhere can make a name for themselves, if they have the talent, determination and access to technology. They do this not by realising completed buildings, but through compelling images of imaginary architecture. They don't all use the most advanced techniques all the time - some work by hand, some (Shaikh included) with hybrids of manual and digital - but all use the internet to spread their work and exchange ideas.