AI, Quantum Physics and 18th Century Revolutionary Drawings: Projecting the Past in Multiple Futures Michael Gamble, Georgia Institute of Technology “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, It is stranger than we can think.” Werner Heisenberg As part of my evolving design studio teaching methodology, architectural drawings from the revolutionary period in France, Italy, and England serve as literal sites for architectural production. These magnificent works by visionaries such as Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, JeanJacques Lequeu, Étienne-Louis Boullée, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi are not merely historical artifacts; they are quantum fields of potentiality, interrogated to project their latent possibilities into future architectural paradigms. Drawing inspiration from quantum mechanics, we treat these drawings as super positional states—existing simultaneously in multiple configurations until observed through our creative interventions, collapsing into new forms of architectural reality. This approach allows us to “split the universe”, generating parallel worlds of design that resonate with the probabilistic nature of quantum systems.

Our method can be likened to a quantum entanglement of genres, where the theoretical frameworks of Mikhail Bakhtin—his concepts of heteroglossia, trans-linguistics, the chronotope, and the carnivalesque—act as additional inputs into our projective process. Just as quantum particles interact across vast distances, these diverse intellectual strands resonate with the architectural drawings, creating a rich, dialogic matrix for generating novel spatial narratives.
In my graduate-level design studio, I have led numerous projects, both individually and collaboratively with students, that leverage these quantum-inspired methodologies. By integrating artificial intelligence tools such as Grok (created by xAI), Midjourney and other generative platforms, we introduce new variables into the design process, akin to quantum perturbations that destabilize classical systems and open a multiverse of possibilities. These AI tools serve as observational instruments, measuring the super-positional states of our inputs—historical drawings, Bakhtinian theory, and quantum metaphors—and collapsing them into tangible outputs.

Artificial intelligence, while powerful, is not the sole driver of these explorations. Its role is akin to a quantum computer simulating complex systems—it amplifies our ability to navigate the probabilistic landscapes of our methodology but remains subordinate to the human imagination. Our work transcends the deterministic outputs of AI, embracing the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, where the act of creation inherently alters the system being created.

The results of this methodology are varied and definitely pique curiosity. Superimposed upon these timeless drawings, our projects manifest as new worlds, animated by the quantum interplay of past and future. We have produced films that capture the temporal collapse of centuries, tone poems and 3d prints that resonate with the vibrational frequencies of quantum states, and what we call *drawdels*—a term borrowed from Thom Mayne of Morphosis to describe a dynamic where drawings and models intertwine.

In essence, our work positions architectural production as a quantum experiment, where historical drawings are not static relics but active participants in a multiverse of creative potential. By interrogating these drawings through the lenses of quantum mechanics, Bakhtinian theory, and AI-driven exploration, we are not only bending genres but also bending the very fabric of architectural reality. The presentation in Boston will be profusely illustrated, as evidenced in the graphic submissions accompanying this abstract.

2025 Intersections Research Conference: AI Design Practices 24

2025 ACSA AI Design Practices - Abstract Book