Architecture will undoubtedly be one of the professions that will undergo radical changes with the digitalized new world order. Architecture that focuses on creative thinking, proceeds with analytical solutions and adds an emotional dimension to intelligence; will it enter into serious competition with artificial intelligence which is the world of processors which has certain standards? What kind of future will await us if the imagination stage of designs, which is a mental act, disappears and less work is left for the human brain?
With the Industry 4.0 revolution, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and robotics; I think that all these concepts will have a deep-rooted place in architecture, as they cease to be fantastic elements. 3D printers and virtual reality experience have already come into our lives.
In the last statement made by the World Economic Forum, it was stated that many professions that require human power and lose their social acceptance will disappear due to the developments in artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and robotics. On the other hand, approximately 7.1 billion people all over the world face the danger of unemployment. Since I think that the greatest power required by the age is adaptation; I think that professions that cannot adapt to the speed of change and transformation, that cannot step into creative production and cannot control competition with flexible borders, will begin to disappear because it no longer takes months, years and generations for our needs to change. While new areas of need arise in just a week or even a few days, old ones may lose value. I believe that in the future of architecture, people and companies that can produce ideas quickly, think creatively, have a good mastery over technology and can stretch with innovations will survive.
Different Areas of Specialty
Architecture, like profession of a doctor, can be divided into different specialties. Unfortunately, due to the developing business field and constantly renewed forms, it may not be possible to approach every field with equal professionalism and knowledge. The growth of the areas of need will bring along the sub-branches of the profession. On the other hand, alternatives and usage mechanisms for limited energy resources will be a new concept for all of us.
We have entered a period in which the number of employees in the offices will decrease significantly and irregular workers, called freelancers, will be more in demand. Although computer systems and developed software create the perception that there will be less need for the human brain and creative thinking, I think the opposite will happen. The creative ideas of human beings and the sense of responsibility we have developed for the universe are more valuable than ever. If the increasing number of us, our wastes reaching impossible levels, our energy resources that are on the verge of depletion and the war against nature continue, the end of the human race will gradually come to an end.
A Better Future
While it is increasingly emphasized that we are a part of the universe we live in, I believe that the surviving professions will also undergo a positive transformation. We all know that producing too much is no longer a goal. Too much production starting to threaten the health of humans, animals, the environment and everything living; it faced with consumption madness. However, as long as we do not replace what we consume, we see that every missing piece in nature affects seasons, climates and directly the earth. Architecture is a profession created for the shelter needs of people, but our biggest shelter is our world. I think that architects who can correctly evaluate every advantage that the universe offers us locally and who act by thinking about the environment that is miles long even in a single structure they have built, will be in extremely important positions.
On the other hand, the serious on-going increase in population rates; it will also increase sheltering, employment and resource problems. We are moving towards a future where a certain standard has been caught in architecture, uniform buildings will increase in some regions and the use of space will be extremely important.
On-the-spot solution will vanish
Producing of structure elements by robots seamlessly and combining them at the construction site with the ideal ratio; while it will make field measurements much more sensitive, the number of people working on the construction site will also decrease. The interventions made during the construction of the building and the concepts we describe as on-the-spot solutions will come to an end, and every stage of a design will be processed perfectly with computer software only.
The biggest advantage of technology at the point it has reached is undoubtedly that it has saved time regardless of our profession. However, we have also experienced that saving time does not mean managing time well. Seeing that even the serial production deviated from its initial purpose after a while, we turned to limited quantities. Of course, as technology continues to develop, innovations will come to our comfort zones, but for the future of professions and especially for a profession such as architecture that progresses in a dilemma of mind and emotion; it is a complex process that is still full of many unknowns.
