This article was originally reported in November 2025.
The University of Miami School of Architecture has been an early adopter of artificial intelligence, introducing every student to AI tools in the first year and using AI in research projects at its RAD Lab, the university reported in November 2025. School leaders also stressed the limits of the technology: AI can generate options quickly, but choosing the best design still depends on human judgment (News@TheU, Nov. 5, 2025).
AI from the first year
According to the university, all architecture students encounter AI tools in their first-year Visual Representation courses. Indrit Alushani, a research associate and lecturer, said AI “has become a core part of how we ideate, iterate, and communicate architectural proposals.” He described using it to:
- generate multiple conceptual options quickly;
- turn abstract ideas into photorealistic visuals;
- test layouts against real constraints such as zoning, massing and solar exposure; and
- move quickly from drawings to 3D models to physical models.
“These tools have transformed how we present to clients, stakeholders, and even jurors,” Alushani said. Once given the relevant project information, one tool can produce 100 building images.
RAD Lab projects
The school’s RAD Lab, headed by Dean Rodolphe “Rudy” el-Khoury, focuses on bringing embedded technology and smart systems into design and architecture. Two AI-powered projects were in development in 2025:
- A smart cane for people with visual impairments with built-in microphones and cameras that warns users about hazards such as wet pavement or obstacles in their path.
- An overhead dining lamp that scans the food on each plate and reports its calories and nutritional content, including protein and carbohydrates.
Human judgment still decides
El-Khoury said AI has streamlined administrative work and routine technical tasks, and that architecture and construction firms now rely on it for cost estimating, citing the startup Togal.AI, whose tools reduce the hours contractors spend on estimates. But he cautioned that AI “proposes many options but cannot choose the best one,” that it can make mistakes that users need to check, and that “AI is only as good as the instructions given.” “This is changing the field, but it can never be compared to a designer’s trained capacity for critical judgement,” he said (News@TheU).
What prospective architecture students should take from this
- Ask how AI is taught: architecture schools differ widely in whether AI tools are part of required courses, offered as electives or restricted in studio work. Ask how the school handles AI in design studios and juries, and what software and computing resources students need.
- Fundamentals still count: the Miami faculty’s emphasis on critical judgment and careful prompting suggests that drawing, modeling and design reasoning remain the core of the training, with AI as an accelerator.
- Graduate option with paid research: Miami’s Master of Science in Architecture includes the PAIR program, which places students in paid research positions with firms; UM describes the MSA as STEM-designated. See our guide to the PAIR program for admission requirements, costs and CPT considerations for F-1 students.
- Ranking: the University of Miami is No. 55 in the 2027 U.S. News Best National Universities ranking (Forward Pathway).