Artificial Intelligence for Bio & Growing Design Applications

Artificial Intelligence has quickly become one of the most advanced (and scary) technological shifts of our Anthropocentric, contemporary era. Various tools and software have been built upon AI self-learning algorithms to improve our capacity of applying knowledge and information in shorter amounts of time, as well as develop concepts and generate images: the most (in)famous example is ChatGPT, which can answer any question as a wise human knowing everything, and capable of arguing a wide range of scientific, technical or religious topics. Yet, the most utilized ones nowadays are the so-called »Image generating AI software«, like Dall-E, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney. Throughout prompts, defined as specifically written descriptive phrases, these software are able to generate various iterations of images representing what you are imagining, bringing them to reality in only a few seconds.

This workshop/tutorial session is focused on merging Midjourney image generation power with possibilities especially in the Bio & Growing Design research sphere even if its application is suitable for all creative fields. Such cutting-edge tools could help researchers to visualize futuristic scenarios where materials and products are grown, or could even imagine how different growing materials, and products could look like (e.g. bacterial cellulose or mycelium composites). It is a nice opportunity to exchange knowledge between AI and microbiological experimentations, to network with our universities, and to let participating researchers learn an ability that will probably be highly required in the next years.

The intention is to guide workshop attendants to the world of Midjourney so that they can acquire this skill for their own research projects and professional career. Through case studies and an exercise, AI-generated images will prove to be helpful processes that aid the creative process from conceptualization to delivery and dissemination.

Registration

If you are interested, please sign up here or send an e-mail to franziska.wegener [​at​] hu-berlin.de until September 20

Workshop structure

• Brief introduction to AI
• Specific introduction to Midjourney software (free trial)
• Case studies MidJourney used in design fields.
• How it works (step-by-step procedure from ideation, prompt structure, and generation)
• Prompt writing demonstration and explanations
• Final exercise (each attendant will develop an image based on their own research project, and then will present it to the rest of the attendants)
• After the workshop, a booklet containing all the generated images could be produced and published.

Organization

Emma Sicher and Franziska Wegener

Workshop trainer

Nicholas Rapagnani is a designer focusing on footwear design, (bio) materials research, and Artificial Intelligence concepts generation. Being an extrovert person and an empathic networker, he has a background in Industrial Design at the Sapienza University of Rome, moving then to the master in Eco-Social Design at the Free University of Bolzano. He currently is a Research Fellow at the Free University of Bolzano, where he does theoretical, practical, and experimental research on sustainable materials for the Material Library of the Faculty. In the meantime, he focuses on merging traditional crafts techniques with microbiological experiments, while including AI-based processes inside his design methodologies. Furthermore, he has presented his work at BASE Milano during the Design Week exhibition in June 2022, at HBBE ArcInTex Symposium in October 2023, at the 4 Elements of Fashion conference at IUAV in March 2023, and right now at ADI Design Museum for the exhibition »Italy: a new collective landscape«.