Exploring the Architecture for Urban Air Mobility An Investigation from Collage to Al-Generated Image

Abstract

This research explores the intersection of Urban Air Mobility and Artificial Intelligence, investigating AI’s role in speculative design methodologies and its potential to conceptualize new infrastructural architecture. Given that vertiports lack built precedents, AI-generated imaginary is a tool for spatial experimentation, multimodal integration, and architectural speculation. Drawing on the historical practice of collage as an avant-garde design tool, this study examines the transition from manual compositional techniques to AI generative processes. The research tests how different AI platforms interpret prompts and influence design speculation. However, while AI enables rapid visualization of UAM infrastructures, it raises critical concerns about authorship, aesthetic bias, and the reinforcement of stereotypical futuristic imaginary. This study ultimately positions AI not as a replacement for architectural intuition but as a tool for curating urban futures, demanding active critical engagement to ensure its meaningful application in design.

Keywords: urban air mobility, collage, artificial intelligence